Lab Rats
by maggiexxmoment
Summary: As if becoming the lab rat of some mad scientist wasn't enough, he had to drag me to some alternate dimension in the process. But now that I've escaped, as long as I can lay low and stay out of trouble, then maybe I'll be able to get home. That should be easy enough, right? Of course, it never is. Self-insert.
1. Ambushed

**Hey guys!**

****Rated T for language, before anything else, because, realistically, I tend to drop a few f-bombs when I'm stressed ;)**

**So, a couple of chapters of this have been sitting half-written in my documents for ages, but I finally gathered up the guts to decide to post it. Before you judge, yep, it's a self-insert, but I promise it isn't going to be the cringe-worthy kind that gives these sorts of fics bad names (at least, I hope not, anyway). Basically, it isn't an "aware" SI, which really just means Tales of Xillia doesn't exist as a game in this universe, and that Rieze Maxia exists as another dimension. That alone, gives it a bit more realism that I think is easier to work with.**

**Anyway, yeah. I promise, my OC isn't going to gain super strength and kick everyone's ass. She isn't going to have a steamy love affair with anyone, main character or not. My goal is to work on relationships with everyone equally, not just fan favourites (as super hard as that will be because looking ahead at planned parts, I obviously picked favourites). She'll react how I think I would react, which is definitely not turning into a heartbreaking badass**

**Now that I'm done justifying the genre, I hope you enjoy! Beginnings are always kind of rough, but I think I might have done okay. There are a few OCs in this chapter, but we have a main character coming next chapter, so don't worry :)**

* * *

I flopped down onto my bed face-first, letting my overstuffed book bag drop to the floor with a loud thud. Being able to stay at home for my first year of university had a lot of perks. I was saving a couple thousand dollars at least, I didn't have to cook for myself or do my own laundry, and I only had class three days out of the week.

The trouble with that, however, was that those classes happened to be three hours long each. And so, here I lay, worn out from having to endure three straight hours of my Sociology professor spouting completely irrelevant word vomit from his mouth.

I lay in complete silence for several moments before I heard loud clicking of my dog's nails against the hardwood. She paused at my bed, being the skittish little thing she was, and jerked forwards and backwards several times before actually making the jump. She immediately came around to lay directly by my face, silently demanding me to scratch her ears.

"You want an ear scratch, huh Nina?" I sighed deeply, and did just that. A few more minutes passed and I heard my phone buzz. I pulled it out of my pocket and lifted my face from my pillow to check it. It was from my friend Jenna.

"Hey!" it read. "Me and Kyle are at the Tim Hortons downtown. Jacob is meeting us down here and then we're going to go jam at his house in a little bit. Wanna come?"

I let a smile cross my face. One shitty thing about staying home my first year was being away from all of my friends who _had_ gone away. Jenna and Kyle were attending a university a province away, while Jacob was in the city I would be going to next year. It was a rare occurrence that all four of us were home at the same time, but as it turned out, Jacob's university was on strike, and Kyle and Jenna were on their March break.

I typed back, "Sure! Just give me 10 or 15 minutes, I'm gonna walk down."

I dropped the phone and let out another sigh. As excited as I was to see them, my current position was quite comfortable. Regardless, I lifted myself from my bed (much to Nina's disdain), and evaluated my outfit in the mirror. It was pretty simple – a tight pair of black jeans with a pale denim shirt. I didn't look like a total slob, and my hair had actually managed to stay straight, so I decided to leave it be and headed out to the kitchen.

My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, her phone in her hand as she scrolled through her Facebook.

"I'm going to meet Kyle and Jenna downtown," I told her, grabbing my purse off one of the chairs. My coat followed, a warm, green cargo jacket I'd gotten for Christmas. "We're gonna go hang out at Jacob's."

Of course, my mom didn't even question it as soon as I'd mentioned him. My mom didn't admit to picking favourites among my friends, but if she did, then he would fit that category. He was valedictorian of my graduating class, and knew how to be the right amount of funny and polite to impress people's parents. In her deluded mind, we were going to end up getting married.

Not that she really could question it anyway. I was 19, after all, and legal under every aspect of the Canadian law. I was old enough to pack my bags and move away tomorrow if I wanted, but that didn't stop her from occasionally treating me like I was still 14 sometimes. Being the youngest of three girls came with that kind of downfall sometimes.

"So you won't be home for supper?"

I began sliding on my boots, leaning down to tug on the zipper. "Probably not. We'll probably just go to McDonalds or something."

"Okay, well have fun!"

"Thanks, love you!"

With that, I headed out the door. It was a nice enough day for early March in Canada. A heavy amount of snow still sat upon our lawn, but the air wasn't all that cold. The sun shone bright in the sky, and the sound of melted ice water trickling into the sewers below could be heard.

I hummed a tune under my breath as I walked. I was excited, if I was going to be honest. If I remembered correctly, the four of us hadn't really hung out since Christmas, and even then it was in a large group. Before that, we'd all been together for graduation. It was going to be nice to just hang out, make some music, and catch up on everything that had happened.

I was less than halfway down Henderson Street when a "Woof!" from below caught my attention. I paused, looking down to see an old golden retriever, wagging its tail.

"Hi puppy!" I said happily. Seeing a dog was enough to make me forget all about going downtown. My obsession with dogs was probably bordering on unhealthy, but I couldn't think of anything on this earth that I loved more, so I stooped down and started petting him.

The dog let out a tiny whimper, and I noticed that he was only putting pressure on one of his front paws. I almost started crying when I realized that one of his front legs had a large gash in it, blood staining his old, matted fur.

"What happened to you?" I asked, my voice cracking in panic. There was a _lot _of blood seeping out of that cut. I stood up and glanced around, looking for anyone that could help me. But, of course, as nice as it was, no one was going to be sitting outside with snow still on the ground.

The dog started barking, and then suddenly took off with a limping gait down Suncrest, a dead end that stopped at a small patch of trees.

"No, come back!" I called after him, tears falling freely at this point. He had to belong to _somebody_ – if the worn, leather collar around his neck was anything to judge by. I couldn't just let him take off into the woods. He wouldn't survive! And I would absolutely never forgive myself if that happened and I'd done nothing to stop it.

So I started running after him, cursing my winter laziness when the dog was _still_ faster than me with a bleeding leg. He didn't stop where the pavement did, instead diving into the bushes and disappearing. I stared into the depths, cursing under my breath when I realized that if I wanted to find him, I was going to have to climb through the damn snow.

My inner debate was immediately settled for me when he began yelping loudly.

"Poor, stupid thing probably got stuck on something," I muttered as I began pushing dead branches aside. I raised my voice. "Puppy! Where did you go?"

I heard a rustle to my left. I turned, searching the barren patch of woods without much luck. Unless the dog had buried himself under a pile of snow, there weren't too many places he could be hiding without leaves to give him cover.

Another rustle, this time from behind me. I whirled around, and let out a startled yelp. A girl was standing there, one who had definitely not been there a moment ago, her hands clasped behind her back. She had red hair, pulled into a braided bun, and her face was heavily made up.

"Oh jeez, you scared me," I said, laughing nervously. I ran my hand through my hair and looked around again. "Um, listen, did you see a dog hanging around? He ran into these trees and he looked really hurt. I'm scared for him."

She shook her head, a small smile on her face. "I have not. Perhaps you imagined him?"

"Uh..." She had an accent, one I couldn't place. Some strange derivative of an English one?

The girl took a step towards me, allowing her hands to fall to her sides. My stomach clenched and my blood ran cold when I saw what she was holding -

It was a knife.

I took a step back, trying not to let out a fearful whimper, but there was another person standing right behind me, what felt like a tall man, judging by the way I slammed into his chest. His arm wrapped across my shoulders, the other hand clamping across my mouth to kill the scream building in my throat.

The girl came to stand right in front of me, holding the knife up to the light. It was strange, almost mechanical looking, with a glowing blue blade.

"This knife is nothing to be afraid of," she said gently. Her big doe eyes glinted at the man behind me. "However, the needle my partner is holding may pose more of a worry to you."

"Whmmfh?" I bit down on the man's hand, just as he used his other hand to stick a syringe into my neck. The panic causing my heart to race slowly stilled, as dull exhaustion seeped into my bones, causing me to slump in the mans arms. It was just like when I got my wisdom teeth out – the world slowly started turning black, and the last vision I had before passing out was the girl's ruby red lips pulling into a serene, almost oblivious smile.

* * *

"...ading on...ana."

The world slowly came back to me in hazy fragments. I could hear muffled, unfamiliar voices, and was aware of the feeling of hard, cold steel beneath my heavy body.

Heavy...my body felt _so _heavy, like my limbs were made of lead. I tried to lift an arm, but I couldn't move it an inch. It almost felt like it was strapped down. Why was I so heavy? Why did everything hurt? What...what had happened? I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"And...urry up. Lor...and is wait...n a report."

I felt something gently touch my forehead. A bright light suddenly erupted in front of my eyes, and I squinted, groaning in protest.

"...would appear she's waking up."

The light had cleared away some of the haze in my mind, and I was beginning to understand that something was very wrong. I struggled to open my heavy eyelids, but forcing them to adjust to the light was a difficult task.

"It's just as you said, Dr. Elias," a voice directly above me said in wonder. "There's not an ounce of mana anywhere in her body. She really must not have a mana lobe. That's amazing!"

The light went away. I felt it safe to open my eyes, and the first thing I saw was the face of an unfamiliar man. He loomed over me, giving me a look of wonder from behind a pair of thin glasses.

"Of course she doesn't," a low, lazy voice drawled from somewhere out of sight. "Neither did the last two. Honestly, Boris. Keep up. It's not 'amazing' if she's just going to end up escaping or croaking like the first two."

Faster and faster I began realizing the situation. The room I was in had walls of tarnished steel. The man hovering above me was definitely some sort of scientist, and finally, the most horrifying conclusion of all:

My arms weren't heavy. I couldn't move them because I was strapped to a table.

"R-Right," the scientist said hastily. "My apologies."

I heard slow footsteps clunking against metal and a second face entered my vision. It was another man, a sleek, blonde braid slung over one shoulder and a pair of glasses perched on his elegant face. He smiled, but it was far from comforting. It was that kind of smile that a creepy little kid gets right before he kicks the cat into the pool. Devious.

I opened my mouth to scream, but it died in my throat when he placed a long finger against my lips.

"Don't waste your energy, darling. It isn't going to accomplish anything."

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" I demanded, thrashing against the metal restraints that held me in place. "Where am I?"

He ignored my questions in favour of roughly grabbing me by the chin, turning my face from side to side to examine it.

"Hm, you seem to be in better health than our previous subject...then again, perhaps I am only remembering her in her final moments. She'd grown so thin, the poor thing."

"Answer me!" I screamed at him, but fear warped my voice into nothing more than a pathetic whimper.

"My name is Dr. Elias, if you really must know." He retrieved a flashlight from his pocket, like the ones that doctors use to see down your throat. He used two fingers to hold my lids open and shone it directly into my eye for a brief moment. "I must say, you're quite lucky. Out of all people on your miserable excuse for a planet, you were chosen to be a part of our experiment."

"E-Experiment?" My whole body grew cold at the word. All I could think of was horror stories I'd heard about people being kidnapped by sick psychopaths and getting picked apart like a damn frog in a high school lab. My heartbeat immediately kicked into overdrive. Was that going to happen to me? Was he going to torture and kill me?

"Aw, don't cry." He wiped away tears from my face that I hadn't even known I was crying. "You're going to help a whole world of people with your little mana-less body. I just know you're going to be the one." He'd begun stroking my face, and a serene smile now crossed his lips. "Lord Gilland's gonna be kissing my feet when I'm done with you, little mouse."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said desperately. "Please, just let me go!"

"Boris," he said calmly. "Grab the mana serum, would you?"

The man, Boris, was starting to look a bit nervous at my crying, but he did as he was told regardless. I latched onto that hesitation as soon as he'd returned, carrying a syringe with a long needle and filled with a dull, purple liquid.

"Please help me!" I begged, throwing myself against my restraints once more. "Don't do this!"

"Do you think this serum will work, sir?" He trained his eyes on Elias, completely ignoring my pleas for help.

Elias took the syringe and examined it carefully. "We will find out as we always have, Boris – through practice." Using one hand, he firmly held my head in place, turning it to the side to expose my neck. I barely had time to gather air for a scream before he plunged the needle into my neck.

That was when I screamed. It was unlike anything I'd ever done before, a loud, shrill sound that pierced the air and stung my throat. The pain from the needle was a sharp, intense burst of pain, and as whatever the hell was in that syringe began spreading through my veins, the pain increased, rushing through my veins like...I couldn't even describe it. It felt like fire. This must have been what poison felt like. It stole my breath from me, and yet I continued to waste what little breath I had by screaming...and screaming...and screaming.

Elias let out a laugh, continuing to hold my head in place. I began to feel nauseous, and I had to fight back the urge to vomit as a horrible ache erupted in my skull. With blurry vision, my eyes fell upon a door, moments before it opened and a frantic assistant hurried into the room.

"Dr. Elias!"

"What is it, Danielle?" asked Elias, sounding more than annoyed.

"It's...it's _him," _she said. "He's infiltrated the facility."

"Shit," Elias hissed. His hand left my head, but I refused to move an inch. The urge to vomit was becoming way to strong to fight, and each movement made it that much worse. "I wasn't expecting him so soon."

Because I was so focused on the woman in the doorway, I was able to watch with full clarity as something struck her from behind and she fell to the ground, unconscious. In her place stood a boy a few years older than me, with neat brown hair and a scar cutting up his neck, all the way to his cheek. He wielded an impressive-looking battle axe, and he currently held it stretched towards Elias and Boris.

He opened his mouth and began to speak, but for some reason, I couldn't hear his voice. His mouth formed soundless words, and I soon realized that I couldn't hear him because I was losing consciousness. I welcomed the blackness – anything to relieve me from the horrible nausea and pain.

* * *

Blacking out wasn't anything I'd ever done before, and after doing it twice in such a short period of time, I was beginning to realize that it wasn't something I was very fond of.

When I finally came around the second time, I felt like hell. My limbs weren't as heavy as the first time, which I assumed meant I wasn't tied down anymore. However, that was literally the only upside. A splitting headache raged inside my skull, and the nausea I'd been feeling before returned with full force.

"I-I'm gonna puke," I announced to no one in particular. I wasn't even sure if there was anyone around.

"Here." An unseen hand thrust a bucket in my direction, and I proceeded to empty my stomach into it. Each heave didn't really do much for my headache, but there wasn't really much I could do. As much as I hated puking, it was a relief to rid myself of the need to do it.

Once I decided I was finished, I fell back onto the bed, because yes, I was in a bed. It was really soft, warm and comfortable – a welcome change from the cold steel of that awful lab.

"How are you feeling?"

I stared around the room. It was dark, the only light coming from a couple of really weird-looking lamps – they looked like golden, glowing trees. From their light I could tell that it looked like I was in some sort of hotel room. A large bay window lay on the other side of the room, the curtains drawn, and it contained minimal, but fancy-looking furniture, including a dresser, a table and chairs, and another bed beside mine, separated by a wooden nightstand.

The boy who'd asked the question sat on this other bed. It took me a moment to realize, but I soon recognized him as the same boy from that...lab. Whatever it was.

"I've been better," I admitted, or at least, I tried to. My voice was hoarse and raspy, my throat screaming in protest.

"Here, drink this." He handed me a glass of water that had been sitting on the nightstand. I eased myself into a sitting position and happily gulped down its contents.

"Where am I?" I asked once my voice had partially returned.

"We're in Fennmont," he told me. "You've been out for a couple of days now. Carrying you all the way here wasn't an easy task."

"A couple _days?!" _I exclaimed. I immediately jumped to my feet, but was knocked back down by dizziness and nausea.

"Don't move so suddenly," he said sternly. "You haven't eaten in days, and the serum sapped your strength considerably. You should focus on resting."

"Do you think I care?! I need to get home!" Now that, as far as I knew, my life was out of immediate danger, I felt panic quickly surge up inside of me.

He placed his hands firmly on my shoulders to keep me from jumping up again. "I understand, but that's not exactly possible right now."

"What do you mean?" His gentle words were doing nothing to ease my nerves. "You said I'm in Fennmont, right? Where in Canada is that? What province?" I asked this, of course, assuming I actually was still _in _Canada. Something deep in my gut, however, told me that things were a little more complicated than that.

"Fennmont is the capital city of Rashugal," he said hesitantly. "Which is one of two major countries in Rieze Maxia, the other being Auj Oule."

I stared at him, trying to digest his words, but failing pretty badly. Rashugal? That name sounded...African, or something, but I'd never heard of it in my life. What was this Rieze Maxia, some kind of...continent? No, that didn't make sense. Unless...

No. I shut that thought down before it could even fully form. That Elias character had said something about my 'planet', and 'a whole world of people', but he was clearly mentally unstable, and so was I if I was actually going to turn to his mindless ramblings as a solution.

But then the boy gave my shoulders a squeeze to grab my attention. "Look, there's a lot I need to explain to you, but it's not exactly believable, so I think I should start by telling you that I am one hundred percent your ally."

"Um, okay..." What was he talking about?

"I mean it," he insisted. He brought one of his hands away to gently trace the scar running up his face. "I got this scar escaping from that bastard who tried to experiment on you. I was his first test subject."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? He did that to you? Who the hell is he, anyway?"

"His name is Elias Vindel," he said, and I could tell how much hatred he held for him by the way his jaw clenched just at spitting out the name. "He's a scientist who works for a group called Exodus, and his pet project is trying to develop mana lobes in people who don't have them." He placed a finger on my forehead. "People like you."

"M-Mana lobes...?" I had no idea what he was talking about, but it definitely sounded very scientific and complicated, so maybe I wasn't supposed to. "And he kidnapped you too?"

"Once. Five years ago, I got jumped walking home from work by some weirdos who knocked me unconcious. When I awoke, I was strapped to a table with his smug face grinning down at me." He raised an eyebrow. "Sound familiar?"

"That's...exactly what happened!" I said excitedly. I mean, I obviously wasn't happy to be a part of some weird kidnapping scheme, but at least this guy knew what I was going through. Maybe he could even help me get home!

"Good, so we're on the same page." He abruptly stood from from the bed and walked over to the table. Sitting on top of it was a weird-looking device that almost looked like some sort of knife – one that I recognized right away as the knife that girl had been carrying. He picked it up, weighing it in his palm, before turning back to me. "I managed to steal this from Elias when I rescued you. It's the spyrix they used to cut through the dimensional barrier and bring you here."

"Wait, what?" I gave my head a quick shake. "Dimensional barrier? What the hell are you talking about?"

He gave me an almost sad look. "This is the part of the story that's going to be hard for you to believe. It's going to sound completely insane, but you have to believe me when I tell you it's real."

I felt uneasy. Something told me this wasn't going to be solved by booking a plane ticket back home and filing a report to the police. Something a lot more complicated was going on than I realized.

"You've been taken to another world," he said. "It's called Rieze Maxia."

I wasn't sure how he'd expected me to react, but he was definitely surprised when I started laughing. I wasn't even sure why I _did _start laughing, but...that whole sentence was just so completely ridiculous that I didn't even know what to say.

"Another world?" I said. "Am I supposed to believe that? This is a joke, right?"

"I wouldn't lie to you in a situation like this," he snapped, dropping the 'spyrix' onto the table. "I know it sounds completely insane – I didn't believe it at first either. But after spending five years in this goddamn place, I think I'd know if this place is Earth or not, and it's not."

"I..." My eyes fell upon the glowing trees. He certainly sounded convinced, but how was I actually expected to believe such a story? He easily could have been just as crazy as that Elias guy. "I'm sorry, it's just..."

"I know you're scared." He came back over and sat on the bed again, lowering his voice into a gentler tone. "I've been through it – hell, I've helped someone else through it. But if you want any chance of staying free from Exodus, then you need to accept it."

"I _can't!" _I exclaimed. My voice broke and tears welled up in my eyes. "I just want to go home."

His face softened. "I'm going to try to make that happen. I _promise. _But until that happens, you need to blend into this world. You need to become a Rieze Maxian, so that they'll never expect you of being anything but that."

I forced myself to look him in the eyes. They were green, a pale mossy colour that reminded me a lot of my dad. My dad who I didn't really talk to that much, who put all of his life onto Facebook, who was the butt of many of my family's jokes –

Who I'd never see again if I didn't listen to this guy.

"Okay," I said quietly. "Tell me everything I need to know."

* * *

Rieze Maxia. A world that was composed entirely of things called "spirits". Apparently, there was another world called Elympios that lay separate from Rieze Maxia, separated by something called the "schism". Exodus, the group that Elias was with, came from Elympios 20 years ago and were trapped here. From what Keegan knew (Keegan being the boy who had saved me), their main goal was returning to their home, which was a place that was quickly draining their supply of spirits by using things called "spyrixes". Since they didn't have mana lobes like Rieze Maxians and couldn't channel spirits, they had to kill them by using these spyrix things.

And that's where Keegan and I came in. This Elias asshole apparently had stumbled across the dimensional barrier to our world and realized it was a world without spirits. Since it was filled with humans with no mana lobes, he began developing a serum that would grow mana lobes within the brain so that he could use us to experiment on. That was roughly five years ago, when Keegan was brought here, and now here we sat.

"What do you think?" he asked when the explanation was finally over.

"I..." Where did I even begin? "It's a lot to swallow."

"I understand. But surely you believe some of it?"

"I mean...I guess I have to," I said. I still felt sick, but at this point I couldn't tell if it was the thought of being away from home or still just side effects from the serum. Speaking of which...

"What about that serum?" I asked suddenly, running my fingers along my neck. They brushed over a patch of dried blood where the syringe had entered. "I'm not gonna grow a...a mana lobe, am I?"

"I'm still not entirely convinced that's even possible," Keegan admitted. He let out an exasperated sigh, as if he was talking about a little kid. "Anyway, I don't know. I don't think Elias got lucky enough to have his serum work on the first try, but that doesn't mean there won't be side effects."

"S-Side effects?"

"You should be fine," he quickly added, realizing how bad that had sounded. "I just mean the nausea and dizziness you're feeling. Since it was only one dose, I doubt anything serious will happen, but...there's really no way to tell."

I suppose there was no point in sugar-coating things for me. That didn't really seem like Keegan's style. Still, I was _really _scared. What if I ended up dropping dead tomorrow? What if I ended up with brain damage thanks to that asshole? I was scared, but I was also really pissed off.

"So, what now?" I asked him, fighting to keep my tone even. To my surprise, it was actually pretty easy. I felt a sudden burst of determination swell up inside of me, and even if it was only temporary, I actually felt a little better.

Keegan eyed the spyrix on the table. "Elias is smarter than I thought. He removed the spirit fossil from this thing, so it's useless as it is now."

"So how can we fix that?"

He glanced back at me in surprise. The action made him look a lot younger – or rather, more like his actual age. All of that brooding and contemplating he did made him look so old and tired, when he really couldn't have been a couple years older than I was.

"This thing is powerful, so any old spirit fossil won't do," he finally said. "I'd probably need to break into either the lab here in Fennmont, or back in Fort Gandala where I saved you to find one strong enough to power it."

"That sounds like it'd be hard," I commented.

He let out an irritated sigh. "You're right, it would be _extremely _hard, especially since they'll be on pretty high alert after me breaking in there the first time. They probably aren't just going to leave the thing lying around."

"So why don't we just wait until things have calmed down a bit?" I suggested.

"That's my plan exactly." He abruptly stood and walked over to the table. On one of the chairs sat a leather satchel, like the kind that old school children used. He brought it over and tossed it on the bed beside me.

"What's this?" I asked, but curiosity got the better of me and I started digging through its contents before he could answer.

"Your new identity."

I paused in the middle of pulling what looked like a textbook out of the bag. "Huh?"

"Keep looking," he said. "I'm going to be leaving for Auj Oule to throw Exodus off your track for a while. In the mean time, I've arranged for you to attend Talim Medical School as an exchange student from Sharilton."

"Wait, you're _leaving?!" _I let the bag drop to the floor. "Keegan, you can't just leave me here by myself. I'm totally defenceless! And you want me to attend a 'medical school'? I _barely _passed chemistry in high school, Keegan, I–"

"Calm down," he interrupted, impatiently I might add. "You don't have to become a doctor. You don't even have to pass. All you have to do is show up to class and pretend your story is true. It's only going to be until I'm able to find a replacement spirit fossil to send you home."

I bit down another annoyed comment. Instead, I started pulling stuff out of the bag. What I originally thought was a textbook was...well, it was a textbook. The title said "Complete Glossary of Medicinal Herbs in Rieze Maxia". Sounded very interesting. I tossed it on the bed beside me and kept searching.

"There should be an ID in there," Keegan was saying. "There's also some textbooks you'll need, some cheat sheets on Rieze Maxia common knowledge, and more than enough gald for you to buy anything you'll need."

I lifted my head. "Gald?"

He sighed. "Looks like we'll have to spend a few days teaching you the basics, huh?"

"That would probably be helpful," I agreed. I found the cheat sheet he was talking about. Written neatly on it was basically a definition list – what looked like cities, important people, and just basic knowledge that I would need to know if I wanted to fit in. I silently thanked my lucky stars that I had someone like Keegan to help me through this, however moody he might be.

"Oh right," he said suddenly. "I should probably get you some food, huh? You haven't eaten in days."

At the thought of food, my stomach roared to life like some kind of vengeful monster. It was actually embarrassing how loudly it growled.

Keegan chuckled. "Right. I'll be back in a minute." He walked out the door, leaving me alone in the room.

I sighed and did my best to stand. My legs shook in protest and I was nearly knocked back down again. Never in my life had I felt so...weak. Hungry. I'd always considered myself lucky to be in as good of shape as I was in, despite my completely shit eating habits and lack of exercise, so to actually feel so drained was horrifying. I didn't like not having control of my body. I didn't like it at all.

I forced myself to drag my feet over to the window. Once there, I dropped myself onto the seat and pushed the curtains aside. A shocked gasp escaped my lips as soon as I did, because I really wasn't ready for the scene that lay before me.

Fennmont was...beautiful. Beautiful didn't even begin to describe it. It was a sprawling metropolis filled with light, with gargantuan trees that actually looked to have buildings carved into them. Walkways and bridges crossed over the water that ran through the whole city, and those same golden, glowing trees that lit up the hotel room were scattered across the city, giving off pollen that fell like beautiful, glowing snow.

This city...it was nuts. It looked like something out of a fantasy. The buildings were carved out of trees, and yet it looked so modern. Was this hotel carved out of a tree? How did they manage to carve a whole city out of trees? What kind of place was this?

_This is Rieze Maxia, _my mind told me, and my inner rant slowed down a bit. I guess all of this was to be expected of a world that was made of spirits and had magic and stuff. Still, I hadn't really begun to believe any of that bullshit, but...wow. Even the sky was incredible – it was tinted a beautiful emerald colour, scattered with stars and clouds and a huge moon that sat low in the sky. It was all too beautiful to be real, and yet...here I was.

"Wow..." I sighed, folding my arms across the window sill and letting my chin rest against them. If I was going to hide out here for a little while, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. At least the view was nice, anyway. So, yeah. It wasn't all bad.

But even knowing how beautiful it was, I couldn't help but long for the red walls of my room. My hand reached out to pet a dog that wasn't even there, and my fingers closed around air, clenching into a fist.

Could I really do this? Was I really going to be able to just hang around this city while I waited to be rescued? How was I supposed to sit around calmly when my life was in danger? When I might never see my family again? The very thought of it caused my throat to tighten, and my eyes grew hot.

I had to be strong. That was what Keegan would tell me if he saw me cry. But even still, the urge to cry was almost overwhelming, and I squeezed my eyes shut to trap the tears inside. Okay. Deep breaths. I just had to stop thinking about it. I was going to try and lead a normal life – go to school, maybe meet a couple of friends – and everything was going to turn out fine.

That is, if I didn't get captured while Keegan was gone. Man, this sucked.

* * *

**So there we go! **

**I haven't seen too many (if any) Xillia self inserts kicking around, so hopefully I don't do too awful. I do have a lot of this planned already, two huge parts in particular, so I don't think I'll get bored of it. I've always wanted to do a self insert, and this is the only one I've really stuck with.**

**I'm hoping that alternating between this and Oblivious (my Symphonia fic, if anyone is interested!) will keep a bit more of a steady stream of updates than before.**

**Next up: OC Maggie learns the magic of elevators and _possibly_ gets herself into a sticky situation (already, god dangit)**


	2. And The Facade Begins

**I seriously don't think I've updated this quickly since starting Oblivious like _four _years ago.**

**But! It was already half-written when I posted the first chapter, so I guess it's not that strange.**

**Main characters in this! Hoorah! One was planned, the second one was not, and just sort of happened once I started finishing this. Anyway, I'm really enjoying writing this already, and hopefully the anticipation of reaching the fun parts I have planned will keep me motivated!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I spent the next few days recovering. Because of the serum, I had trouble keeping food down the first couple of times, but I eventually adjusted. The dishes here were a bit less traditional here than they were back home in Canada, but there were definitely things I had seen before, like rice bowls and lots of dishes reminiscent of Japanese food.

Adjusting to this "night clime" was extremely hard. The first time I went back to sleep, I slept for almost 13 hours before Keegan woke me up to give me food. It was super disorienting, and I quickly found myself longing for natural light. The glowing petals of what Keegan called "lumen trees" were beautiful, don't get me wrong, but they couldn't bring real warmth and light like the sun could. It was a bit depressing.

During these few days, Keegan did his best to teach me things about Rieze Maxia. Things like how the currency worked, or the names of cities in Rashugal. Basic, common knowledge that was going to help me not stick out like a sore thumb. He even felt it necessary, apparently, to play fashion police and get me a new outfit.

"What is this?" I asked when he tossed the bundle of clothes on the bed. It had been about four days since I'd woken up in the hotel room, and I hadn't left it since. I was beginning to get a bit...well, bored, to say the least.

"You can't walk around in what you're wearing," he said, as if it should be obvious. "I got you something to help you blend in a little more."

I started unfolding the clothes. The outfit consisted of a plain, brown dress, that laced up the front and had no sleeves. Aside from that, there was a white button-up shirt, and a pair of green tights. Definitely not the kind of outfit I'd be able to pull out of my regular wardrobe.

"It probably looks strange to you," he said. "But it's pretty average as far as clothing here goes. You won't stick out, anyway."

"Says the guy in a trench coat," I mumbled, but I knew he was probably right. He'd been able to blend in for five years here without a problem, and he was as much of an Earthling as I was. Listening to him was my best option right now.

He rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up and get dressed."

"Are we going somewhere?" I asked excitedly. I would've worn a chicken suit if it meant getting out of this damn hotel room. Well...maybe not. But still.

"Have you forgotten?" He raised an eyebrow and motioned towards the bag full of school books. "Today is your first day of class."

I froze, immediately bringing my hand up to count the days off on my fingers. He'd said I would start class in five days, and it had been...

"One..two...three..."

"It's been five days," Keegan confirmed. "I know it's hard to tell with this damn spirit clime, but it has. I can't wait around here any longer or someone is going figure out we're here."

I felt panic flare up in my stomach. I wasn't ready for this. I knew the whole point of Keegan spending these past few days teaching me about Rieze Maxia was so that I wouldn't have any problems after he was gone, but now that he was actually leaving...

"Hey." He knelt down in front of the bed so that we were eye-level. His voice took on a gentleness that I'd only heard that first day in the hotel room, and it was enough to ease my panic a bit. "I know it's scary, but it's only for a little while. I'm going to find a spirit fossil and get you home, okay?"

I stared at him for a long time without saying anything. Then, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, you've been stuck here for five years, right? That means you'll be able to go home too!"

His facial expression didn't change. I had thought he'd be just as excited as I was at the thought, that he'd conjure up an ecstatic smile to match mine. But he didn't. His lips barely quirked upwards before he stood once more.

"Yeah. I will, huh?" He nodded towards the door. "I'll wait outside until you're finished changing." And then he didn't offer another word – he just abruptly turned and walked out the door.

I stared after him, my smile quickly dissolving into a frown. What the hell? What was that all about?

I shrugged. Whatever. I still didn't really know Keegan that well, so I couldn't tell if that had been out of character or not. Instead of worrying, I peeled off my old Earth clothes and left them in a pile on the floor. Then, I quickly put the outfit on – first the tights, then the white shirt, then the dress over top of it all. I laced up the front to the best of my ability – which probably was still pretty shitty considering I tied knots at an elementary school level – and then headed into the bathroom to assess the damage in the mirror.

Not even a week away from home and I was already severely missing my hair straightener. It wasn't that I had any problem with my curly hair, but it was just so unpredictable. Sometimes it looked really cute, and another times...well, other times it didn't. Especially without the right conditioner. Thankfully, it looked semi-tame now. Acceptable enough to wear out into public. And the dress...it was certainly different, like something out of a fantasy movie, but I'd always loved fantasy. I'd never thought I'd actually get a chance to wear something like this in real life, so it was nice that I'd be able to walk out in public without being judged.

Right. Well, there wasn't really much else to do to get ready. I suppose it was a blessing, not having any luxuries like hair products or makeup with me. It cut my getting ready time down to about ten minutes, if even that. I left the bathroom and called out for Keegan to come back in.

"Do they fit okay?"

I did a short little twirl. "I think so. What about shoes?"

"Your own boots should be fine," he said. "Besides, I wasn't about to go guessing your shoe size."

"Fair enough," I said with a laugh. I picked my clothes off the floor and set them on the table. I had no idea what had become of my purse. It was probably back in Fort Gandala, which really sucked. Aside from these clothes, it and its contents were all I had left to remind me of Earth. My phone, my lip balm, my wallet...all of it, gone.

"Now then, a couple of last minute preparations."

I snapped out of my daze and tuned in to what Keegan was saying. It was probably important. It usually was.

"This is your ID card," he said, handing me the card. "I'm not sure how far into their pocket Exodus has the king, so try to avoid any situations where you'd have to show it to guards. It's mostly for school-related stuff."

"A-Alright." I tucked it into the front pocket of my new school bag.

"Next, I want you to have this." He held out a pendant, which consisted of a green emerald, encased in a swirl of gold. "Many merchants and sailors recognize it as my symbol of business, and if you keep it in sight on your person then–"

"Isn't this the Kokiri Emerald from Legend of Zelda?" I asked him, fighting back a laugh. I gave him an incredulous stare.

He paused, and I could of sworn he blushed a little. "Oh, uh, yeah. It's been so long that I tend to forget I ripped it off."

"It's awesome, Keegan. Thanks." Giggling, I put the necklace on and gave him a smile. "It'll be something to remind me of home."

He gave a small sort of shrug and continued speaking, but I didn't miss his lips twitch at the corners.

"Anyway, yeah. If you're in need of buying anything or, for whatever unfortunate reason, leaving the city by boat, then that should make things a lot easier for you." Finally, he plopped a burlap sack that was filled with coins into my hand. "You already have some in your bag, but just in case, here's more than enough gald for food or whatever else you might need."

"This feels like a lot," I said, weighing it in my palm. "Holy cow, Keegan, you must be loaded."

"Yeah," he said, "I'm a regular Bill Gates." He paused, giving me a serious look. "Please tell me that's still a relevant reference."

"Are you joking? How long do you think you've been gone for?" I rolled my eyes, storing the gald in the bag. I wasn't too sure how safe it would be to carry around such a large amount of money, especially if I was going to be alone most of the time, but I didn't question it, which was probably going to come back to bite me in the ass later.

Keegan gave the room a final look before turning back to me. "Well? Are you ready?"

"I guess I have to be, huh?" I said, forcing a smile. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, as they did before going to any unfamiliar place alone, but there were considerably more this time, for good reason.

I followed Keegan out of the room, and he handed me the room key after locking the door behind us. Our room was on the fourth floor of the hotel, so we took a short ride in a surprisingly sleek elevator before exiting into the main lobby. A few people milled about, and the receptionist gave Keegan a smile as we walked past and out the front door.

I let out an awed whistle as soon as we were out into the fresh air. Watching the city from a window was one thing, but staring up at the huge trees towering above us was amazing. I held my hand out and caught a piece of pollen from the lumen trees, holding it up to my face to marvel at it.

"Keep the gawking to a minimum," Keegan said under his breath. He began walking and I hurried to follow him, dreading getting lost in a place like this.

"I'm technically a tourist, right? A little gawking should be normal."

"I guess."

I looked up at the sky. While I did take night classes back home, this was a bit different considering it was seven in the morning. I made sure to take note of specific buildings and street posts around us so that I'd actually be able to find my way back to the hotel on my own.

Soon enough, we'd reached the medical school. It was especially huge, the majority of the walls covered in windows emitting brilliant gold light. Lush foliage spilled from the tops of the several trees it had been made from, cementing the fact in my mind that this city really was carved into trees.

"Wow," I breathed, gazing up at it. "I'm starting to believe this whole spirit channelling thing, I think."

"You'll want to find the Student Services building," Keegan was saying, clearly having ignored what I said. He pointed to a door a little ways away. "Show your ID to the receptionist, and she'll give you your schedule. Other than that, you shouldn't have too much trouble today."

I turned towards him. The butterflies seemed to have merged together to form something huge and angry, like a dinosaur or a tiger or something. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Don't look so nervous," he said, looking down at me. "You'll be fine on your own. I know it. I wouldn't leave you alone if I thought otherwise."

"I-I know." I hesitated for a moment, debating on what I wanted to do, before throwing my arms around him and squeezing tightly. "Thanks, Keegan. For everything."

"Don't thank me," he said with a chuckle. He pulled away and, much to my annoyance, ruffled my hair. "Just stay alive."

"Thanks Dad," I said with a scowl. A long silence followed, filled with unspoken words, and then Keegan simply gave me a nod.

"I'll keep in touch," he said, and then he turned and headed back into the city, vanishing into the morning crowd. Such a talker, that guy. A real people person, I could tell.

I let out a long, shaky breath. Okay. I could do this. Maybe I could find some cute guy to show me around and help me study. If I got really lucky, maybe I would only get lost once. Twice, max.

The doors to the Student Services building opened into a main lobby that was quite spacious. Cushioned benches circled around beautiful plant arrangements, and a counter was set up in one corner selling food to hungry students. Bulletin boards lined the walls, and students frantically went to and fro, checking announcements and talking about upcoming assignments.

It all looked so...normal. If I could ignore the glowing trees that gave off the room's main source of light, I could almost imagine I was attending school back home, and that my situation was completely safe.

Almost, that is.

I did my best to smile at people as I made my way to the reception desk (although, most of them were too absorbed in their business to notice anyway). There were several women typing away at their computers and marking down things in important-looking folders, and the one I approached wore a name tag that said "Marilyn Cornish, Student Services."

"Hi."

She continued typing on her computer for several more moments before looking up and giving me a smile. "Hi there, my name is Marilyn. How can I help you today?"

"Um, my name is Maggie," I told her, handing her the ID card. My last name was listed as "Gamble", and I could only assume that had to be Keegan's last name, or at least, a fake one. "I'm here to pick up my class schedule?"

She took the card and examined it closely. "Ah, yes. You're the exchange student from Sharilton, aren't you?" More typing. "I must say, we've never done an exchange program before. You certainly are a first."

"Oh, really?" I bit back a bitter smile. _How funny, _I felt like saying. _A lot of this is a first for me, too._

"Anyway, here is your schedule." She highlighted several things on a sheet of paper before handing it to me. "Your first class is Human Anatomy, and you'll find it by taking the elevator down that hallway, to the third floor. The doorplate should say 'Lecture Hall 3A'."

"Right. Thank you so much," I said, but she'd already gone back to typing on her computer. I turned towards the hallway she'd described and started on my way.

Since it was close to the beginning of class, the hall was pretty crowded. I pushed my way through and found an elevator, which was surprisingly empty. I searched the walls for the floor buttons, but all I could find was a flat, blank screen. I tried tapping on it and swiping my fingers across it, but nothing I tried seemed to make it activate.

Great. I was expected to attend a medical school and I couldn't even work a goddam elevator? This was going perfectly already.

"You have to let it scan your hand."

I jumped. I hadn't noticed anyone else enter the elevator, but sure enough, a boy who looked a few years younger than me stood there, looking a bit awkward. It wasn't a wonder I hadn't noticed him enter – he seemed a bit reserved, with straight, black hair in need of a small trim, and an outfit of plain, white clothes.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Here." He reached past me and placed his palm flat across the screen. It flickered to life, a cool blue light washing over his hand. When he pulled it away, a menu with a list of floor numbers was displayed on the screen. He turned to me, giving a polite smile. "What floor?"

"Um, three." I told him, my cheeks burning. I felt like a total idiot, which was a common occurrence for me, but definitely not to this extent.

"Oh, me too." He pressed the number, and the elevator doors slid shut.

I awkwardly stared down at my feet. This was hopeless. If I couldn't even figure out how to work an elevator, how was I supposed to fit in among a group of genius medical students? Keegan was an idiot.

"So, you must be that exchange student from Sharilton, right?"

His question caught me off guard. Great, did everyone in Fennmont know about me? How the hell was this considered blending in? I decided to try and tackle the problem with a joke.

"Yeah, that's me," I said hesitantly. "How did you know? Has my bad reputation caught up with me already?"

"Of course not!" he said quickly, but his nervousness quickly dissolved into a laugh when he saw my barely hidden smile and realized I was kidding. "I just...well, the elevators here are a little high-tech, you know? Not really something you'd see in Sharilton, I'd imagine. Most of us here at the school are used to them by now, so it wasn't hard to figure out."

"That makes sense," I said, feeling a little better. "S-Sorry, I just don't really handle attention well. I was worried my being here was some kind of big gossip."

He waved a dismissive hand. "Nah. I only really know because I overheard Professor Haus mention it today. It's nothing to worry about."

_Thank God,_ I thought, feeling relief flood through me. I didn't know about here in Rieze Maxia, but back home on Earth being an exchange student in university was a little uncommon if you weren't exchanging to a foreign country, especially considering I was supposed to be an arts student, not a medical student. If this was the only person who knew so far, then laying low was working out well.

The elevator finally stopped on the third floor, and we both stepped out.

"Uh, I'm Jude, by the way," he said, holding out a hand to me.

"Maggie." I shook his hand, feeling slightly awkward about it. This kid looked like a freshman in high school, but he seemed so...mature. A lot more mature than me, anyway. It made me feel even more inadequate than I did to begin with. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Did you need help finding your class?"

I looked down at my schedule. "Uh, I need to find...Lecture Hall 3A."

His face lit up a bit. "Oh, that's where I'm headed. Let's go."

I felt my stomach settle a bit and followed him down the hallway until we reached the room. It was small, as far as most lecture halls back home went, but still spacious enough to hold a hundred or more students. I followed Jude to a couple of empty seats, silently thinking once more about how normal everyone looked.

"So, what kind of program are you taking?" Jude asked me once we were seated. "If you attend the Academy of Arts, why are you being exchanged to Talim Medical School?"

"Uh..." _That's a really good question, Jude. _I frantically searched my brain for some kind of bullshit response. "It's this...um, sociology experiment."

I thought for sure he was going to call me out on my bullshit, but it only took about two seconds for his eyebrows to lift in curiosity.

"Really? That sounds interesting. What's it about?"

"It's like a...an adaptability experiment." I paused briefly to listen back to that in my head. Yeah, sure. That sounded like the kind of dumb assignment my actual professor would assign us. "He wants us to become...immersed in unfamiliar environments, so that we can, uh, gain experience in adapting to new situations."

Jude mulled this over, and I felt like slapping myself in the face. I wondered to myself if my story sounded as completely fake to him as it did to me.

"That's pretty impressive."

I let out a breath, relieved.

"So, you aren't a med student then?"

"Not even a little," I admitted sheepishly. "But I mean, that's the whole point of the experiment, right?"

"Exactly," he agreed with a smile. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

I let the silence drag out for a moment, tapping a pencil I'd pulled out of my bag against my chin. "So, um, look. It's cool if you don't want to, but...well, I don't really know anyone here, and I don't know the city that well. Would you be able to maybe, you know...give me a bit of a tour? Just so I don't get lost on my own."

"I don't have another class until tonight," he replied. "Are you free after class?"

I took a quick look at my schedule. The week was split into days that had names I was unfamiliar with, but, thankfully, still with seven days. I made a mental note to adjust the names to help me read it better, and then focused back to Jude's question. So, right now was seven in the morning...my next class didn't start until three.

"I think so," I told him happily. "But I mean, like, don't feel like you have to, or anything. Being an actual medical student and all, you probably have to study for tests and stuff, right?"

He shook his head. "I don't mind. I was alone when I came here, too, so...I understand."

After that, the professor started teaching the class, so there really wasn't much chance to talk. Still, the tension that was sitting in my gut like a cement block was beginning to lessen. I was still a nervous wreck, but Jude seemed like a nice enough kid. Having at least one friend here was going to make things a lot easier.

After a long class spent paying more attention to adjusting my schedule than the professor's lecture, Jude and I were walking through the streets of Fennmont. I listened avidly as Jude explained all of the major landmarks and businesses, doing my best to take a mental note of all of it. He showed me the easiest path to take to get from the hotel to the school, and pointed out the shopping centre, a few of his favourite restaurants, and the seahaven (which was basically a fancy word for a port, I think).

"I'm sorry if this is really rude," I began. We were sitting in the main plaza, and my eyes were trained on the beautiful fountain in the middle as I tried to delicately phrase this question. It was in the shape of a lotus flower floating on a pond. "But, you kind of look...young, to be in university. How...how old are you exactly?"

"I'm 15," he said, laughing at my discomfort. "It's fine. I got early acceptance a few years ago for showing promising results on my entrance exam."

"Wow," I said, genuinely impressed and also a tiny bit relieved. "Sorry, I just thought maybe you looked a lot younger than you were and might have been one of those people who's super touchy about that kind of thing."

Jude laughed again, some of his shyness beginning to melt away at this point. "What about you? What are your plans for the future?"

"Well, I turned 19 a few months ago," I replied, fiddling with the hem of my dress. I spoke carefully, not wanting to say something out of place. "I wanna be a writer, and...yeah. That's about it, really." Talking about my future plans was never fun for me, mostly because I often had to tell the exact same story to literally every single distant family member and random customer at work that I spoke to. Besides that, I didn't want to give too many details that would come back to bite me down the road.

"In that case, this will be quite the experience to write about," he said good-naturedly.

I forced a laugh. _Oh Jude, if only you knew._

We spoke for a while longer, and Jude told me a bit about himself. His parents owned a clinic in an island town called Leronde, which probably explained why he was going to medical school. I, in turn, told him super vague details about my own life. My mom sold medicine. My dad was a bartender. Totally general things that could be applied to Earth _or _Rieze Maxia.

By the time it was time for my next class, I felt a lot better. Despite being at that teenager age that I usually despised dealing with, Jude was actually very mature and I found it easy to talk to him. Doing this without Keegan around to talk about my _real_ problems with was going to be difficult, to say the least, but I wasn't as frightened as I'd been before. Like Keegan had told me, all I had to do was wait patiently and avoid being noticed by any guards.

* * *

The next few days passed by peacefully and uneventfully. In retrospect, maybe I should have realized that these few days were the calm before the inevitable shit storm that was to follow, but I was too busy worrying about keeping up appearances around Jude and anyone else who I managed to get suckered into speaking to. I really tried to avoid speaking to _anyone _more than necessary, but I was too polite not to, so it happened more than I probably would have liked.

During the past few days, I'd managed to find a clothing shop. I'd used the money Keegan had entrusted to me for "emergencies" and splurged on a few new dresses, just so I wouldn't be stuck wearing the same one everyday. I was currently wearing a pale blue one that buttoned up the front, over my regular boots and tights. It was still plain, but a lot prettier than the brown one I'd been walking around in.

It was sometime around midday, although, for as dark as it always was, it also could have been midnight. I'd already finished with my morning class, and Jude had important business to attend to, so I was sitting on a bench outside the hotel, absently highlighting random sentences from my textbook. It was a good thing actually doing well in class wasn't a requirement Keegan had given me, because there was no way I could be bothered to remember the entire glossary of medicinal herbs in Rieze Maxia. Stuff like that was why I became an arts student in the first place.

I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to the water gently splash against the walkway beside me. It was hard to believe that some people just lived ordinary lives here, not even affected by how completely incredible this place was. I didn't think I was ever going to get sick of it, or cease to be amazed by its beauty.

I started doodling in the margins of my textbook. Let's see...it had been roughly eight days since I'd first woken up in that hotel room, possibly more than that since I'd actually left home. I'd been trying not to think too much about what was going on back home, but curiosity was a hard feeling to fight. Mostly, I was worried about my mother. She was protective enough as it was, and so with me being gone for over a week, she was probably sick with worry.

That thought was enough to make me tear up. At this point, I didn't really give a shit about myself. For the most part, I was relatively safe, and I was getting used to the idea of this whole "other world" business. But now, all I could think about was her crying herself to sleep, probably fearing the worst – that I'd been killed or abducted or something equally awful. I hated that I was putting her through that. She didn't deserve it. I wished more than anything that I could just let her know I was okay.

"Shit," I mumbled, wiping at the stray tears that had managed to escape. _No, _I mentally chastised myself. This was bad. I wasn't supposed to think about home, because that led to crying, and I was trying to stay strong. Sure, I'd cried myself to sleep the first few nights, but I got over it. If I didn't think to deeply about this awful situation, then it was easy to pretend I was just visiting a foreign city.

You know, one with giant tree buildings and an eternal night. Totally normal stuff.

I slammed the textbook shut, placing it on the bench beside me so I could rise and stretch my legs. Right. I had nothing else to do for the rest of the night, so I decided I might as well take a look around and do a little shopping. I gathered my textbook under my arm, piling a couple of notebooks on top of it. I balanced them under the one arm while I tried to fiddle with the strap on my bag, taking a few, completely idiotic steps as I did so.

Naturally, I managed to slam right into someone, and the books _and_ bag fell to the ground, the contents of my bag spilling out all over the place.

"I'm so sorry," I said quickly, crouching down to retrieve everything.

"Not a problem," a voice said, and the man I'd bumped into crouched down as well to help me.

I glanced up at him and smiled apologetically. He was very attractive, with brown hair that was, for the most part, swept back out of his face. He flicked the stray lock of hair out of his face and dropped one of his brown eyes into a quick wink.

My cheeks reddened, because I was a dumb teenager and literally _any_ sort of attention from a cute guy caused my face to heat up _so_ frigging badly. I ducked my head and gathered the rest of my things before standing up.

"I really should watch where I'm going," I said, rolling my eyes and giving an embarrassed laugh.

"Really, don't worry about it..." he said again, pausing to shamelessly glance at the ID card he'd picked up from the ground. "Maggie. Is that your name?"

"Uh, yeah," I took the card from him. "I'm, um, a student at the medical school."

"O-ho, so beauty and brains, huh?" He smiled widely, and despite the fact that I was quickly realizing what a hotshot this guy was, I still took a moment to appreciate that it was a very charming smile. "The name's Alvin. Hopefully you didn't lose any of your belongings."

Cheeks still flaring from that stupid beauty and brains comment, I took a peek in my bag. "Nope, everything seems to be here. Sorry, again."

He shrugged. "You know, I wasn't really paying attention either. How about I make it up to you?"

My heart started fluttering a bit. Was this cute, clearly older guy asking me on a date? I was torn between being nervous as all hell and wanting to jump at the chance to say yes.

"You don't have to do that," I said, my fingers absently playing with a chunk of hair.

He gestured across the plaza, towards an alcove that, as I'd quickly discovered, was filled with carts that were home to delicious fast food vendors. "C'mon. I'll buy you lunch. Unless you were on your way to meet a boyfriend?"

_This guy, I swear to God. _He must have gotten his kicks by flirting with easily embarrassed girls. Regardless, the thought of lunch was very tempting, a thought that was echoed by the slight growling of my stomach.

"I guess lunch would be okay," I told him, sliding my books into my schoolbag. I allowed him to lead the way across the plaza, and I silently took in the rest of his appearance as I walked slightly behind him. He had a gun holster at his hip, and a long sword strapped across his back. The sight of someone openly carrying weapons back home would be cause for alarm, but here I realized that it was pretty normal. The guy was dressed nicely, with a pretty brown jacket and a black scarf that looked like it was made out of some high quality material.

"You checking me out back there?" he called over his shoulder, his tone teasing.

I rolled my eyes, hopefully enough to distract from this stupid blush. "Oh yeah, totally."

"Hey," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "I wouldn't be offended or anything if you were."

"Mhm." I made a face at him, but the smile tugging at my mouth was enough to let him know I wasn't too serious. I was used to getting openly hit on at work, but most of the time it came from creepy old men, so I was a bit more accepting of this.

We ended up getting a couple of bowls of soup. After sitting down beside him on a nearby bench, I started kind of mentally kicking myself in the face. What was I doing? Was accepting some random's guy's offer to buy me lunch something I would normally do back home? Would Keegan skewer me if he found out? I'd made a promise to myself to try by best and avoid talking to people, but the minute a cute guy paid attention to me I broke it? It was unbelievably stupid of me, and I only fully realized that after I was seated on the bench, silence stretching between us as he began eating. The best thing to do would probably be just to eat my soup really quickly and head back to the hotel.

I popped the cover off the container and took a long swig of the broth. Another stupid decision on my part, really, because right away it felt like I had swallowed fire. I started choking, tears falling down my face.

"I guess I forgot to mention that's spicy curry soup," Alvin said, trying and failing to hold back a laugh at my misfortune.

I shook my head, reaching for the bottled water I'd thankfully bought as well. "Yeah. To be fair, though, I probably shouldn't have tried to chug the whole thing."

"Probably not," he agreed thoughtfully.

I continued eating my soup, slowly and carefully this time. I didn't say much, instead quietly observing my surroundings. It was something I'd made a habit out of without realizing since coming here. I was, understandably, a bit paranoid, so I was constantly keeping an eye out for anyone who looked suspicious. Besides that, I was also in an impossibly beautiful city, so it was nothing for me to sit for an hour and just stare at my surroundings.

But, most of all, I wasn't talking because I had no idea what I was supposed to say. Talking to Jude was easy, because he wasn't a cute guy I was worried about making a fool of myself in front of. Never mind that _this _guy probably looked at me the same why I saw Jude.

_ "_So I noticed that your ID said Maggie Gamble," he finally spoke up once he'd finished his soup. "Any relation to the merchant, Gamble?"

_Gamble...right. Keegan. Judging by what he told about that pendent, he must be some sort of famous merchant. Best not to use his real first name._

"Yeah, actually," I said carefully. "He's uh...he's my older brother."

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Really? I didn't realize he was young enough to have a sister your age. You're, what, 14? 15?"

"I'm 19!" I said indignantly. "What, you'd really just hit on someone so young like that?"

"Of course not," he backpedalled, but he really didn't look all that ashamed. "Relax, I'm just messing with you."

"Mhm," I said again, making the same face as before. This guy was less of a gentleman and more of a shameless flirt, but hey. A free lunch was a free lunch. I finished off the rest of my soup and tossed the empty container into the trash bin beside me. "I should probably head back, soon. Being a medical student is harder than it looks."

"Gonna hit the books, huh?"

"Books, pillow–" I shrugged. "You know, whatever. I'll decide when I get there. This night clime still messes up my sleep schedule."

"You get used to it," he assured me. "Eventually, that is."

I laughed, then looked down at my feet. "Um, thanks for lunch! I still don't know many people here, so it's nice to meet another friendly face." _Even if you're a little _too _friendly._

He grinned. "Not a problem! Perhaps I'll see you around, hm?"

_Come on,_ I told myself. _Would that really be so bad? You can still lay low with two friends. That's not so bad. Allow yourself at least two._

"Maybe," I said with a short nod. I gave him a small wave before heading back across the plaza to the hotel.

* * *

A little while later, I headed back to the school to meet Jude. It was still early evening, so he decided we should take a walk down to the seahaven for a little bit and visit the merchants. Apparently, merchants from all over Rieze Maxia in busy ports like this, and you could usually find some pretty cool things if you were smart enough not to get scammed.

"So you seem to be settling in okay," said Jude while we browsed a stall that was selling pretty charms and bracelets. Now that he wasn't at school, he'd donned a long blue coat and changed out of his white uniform. "And you haven't gotten lost yet, so that's a plus."

I gave a tightlipped smile, not about to mention the day that I took a wrong turn coming home from school and took an extra hour to get home.

"I think so," I said instead. I paused to look longingly at a silver bracelet dangling with white and blue gems. _Restraint. You don't need it. Save the billion dollars Keegan gave you for an emergency. "_I met someone else today, actually. This Alvin guy. We kind of like...slammed into each other, so he offered to buy me lunch."

Jude laughed. "Just like that huh?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "I know. He was a bit of a flirt, but nice enough. If anything, maybe I can keep mooching off of him for free meals!"

"You're terrible," Jude sighed, but my enthusiasm at being a freeloader was enough to coax another laugh out of him.

"Okay, I have to get away from this table," I finally said, backing away. "I'm going to end up blowing all of my money on one of these things. Wanna go?"

"Sure. I just have to make a quick stop at the lab to drop these reports off for Professor Haus." He pulled the papers in question out of his bag. "Did you want to come along?"

"I might as well," I replied, shrugging. "I don't have anything else going on."

The two of us made the trek back into the city, and I followed Jude's lead to the Research Lab. The further we walked, the heavier the feeling in my stomach became. Just to add to my list of idiotic accomplishments, I'd completely forgotten that this research lab was probably housing some of those Exodus guys. Meaning if the wrong person saw me and recognized who I was, I was screwed.

While the majority of Fennmont gave off warm, golden light, the lab was lit up with a cool blue colour, probably being lit by something more similar to electric or fluorescent lighting. A large pool of water surrounded either side of the bridge we walked on, the lab casting a perfect double in the reflection.

I paused halfway, on a circular opening that held a streetlight and a couple benches. There was no way I was getting anywhere near that lab.

"I'll just wait here," I said innocently, leaning against the railing.

Jude didn't question it. He nodded and continued on towards the entrance.

As soon as he was out of earshot, I let out a heavy sigh. I couldn't believe I'd almost made such a stupid mistake. I had to start being more careful if I didn't want to end up strapped to a lab bench again.

I watched from afar as Jude spoke with the guard at the entrance. From what I could tell, the guard didn't look too intent on letting him into the building, which was a bit reasonable, I thought. I probably wouldn't let some 15 year-old into a military research lab either.

I turned my attention back to the where I stood, just in time to see an all-too familiar, willowy redhead walk past me. I clamped my mouth shut, cold fear freezing every muscle in my body. By the time I finally regained control of my own body, she'd already passed, having not even batted one of her long lashes at me.

I nearly collapsed against the railing, needing to grip on to it to keep myself steady. I turned out towards the water. My stomach felt like it was going to climb up my ribcage and leap out of my throat. _Shit. _What the hell was she doing here?

I peeked back at the entrance. Jude had stepped aside to let the girl speak with the guard. She twirled a loose strand of hair around her finger, looking all-too innocent as she probably sweet-talked the guard into letting her in. Sure enough, he stepped aside to allow her through, and she smiled sweetly at Jude before slipping inside.

Jude spoke with the guard for a couple more minutes before reluctantly handing him the papers and coming back over.

"That guard wouldn't even let me in to see him," Jude said. He looked annoyed, but he was doing his best to conceal it. "But that girl was able to waltz right through."

"I noticed." I cringed at how shaky my voice has suddenly become, so I forced a laugh to try and cover it up.

Jude noticed, the annoyance wiping from his face. "Hey, are you okay? You look really pale."

"Um, I'm fine," I lied. "I just feel kind of sick all of a sudden. Probably that spicy soup I had for lunch, heh."

"Do you need to sit down for a minute? I don't mind waiting."

I waved a dismissive hand. "God, no. I'll be fine, seriously. It's nice of you to offer, though."

"Uh..." Now he had a curious look on his face. He shook it off, though, and smiled at me. "If you say so. Are you okay to walk?"

"For sure," I replied. I put more effort into stabilizing my voice, and I think it was enough to convince him. We set off from the lab, and I offered one last nervous glance at the doors that girl had gone through.

Who the hell was she, anyway? Keegan hadn't mentioned anything about her, and if she was important enough for Elias to trust her with his dimension-ripping spyrix, I would have thought she'd be important enough for him to at least mention her. And then there was also her mysterious male companion who'd stabbed a needle in my neck. I had no idea what he looked or sounded like besides being tall, which didn't really narrow the possibilities down. That guy could've been _anyone_.

_Shit,_ I mentally cursed. _What the hell am I supposed to do now? If she's here, then she might know that I am too. What if Keegan's plan doesn't even work, and all it accomplishes is leaving me completely vulnerable to kidnapping?_

"...good?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my inward rant to find Jude looking expectantly at me. "Sorry, what?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "I asked if you wanted to grab something to eat."

"Uh, sure." I said that, but something told me I wasn't going to be all that hungry.

* * *

***suspense***

**Our mysterious redhead is a character who, was definitely planned, but _definitely_ was not going to have as big of a role as she is clearly beginning to have.**

**Of course, I couldn't resist introducing Alvin a little earlier than originally planned. He's one character I'm going to have so much fun writing, and I'm probably going to restrain myself from letting him hog all of my attention. Siiiiigh**

**I love reviews (who doesn't though, really) so feel free to let me know what you think so far! :)**

**Next time: Things continue to go downhill fast. Also, a boat ride.**


	3. Bon Voyage!

**One upload a day! I'm doing surprisingly good at this, I would say :)**

**Things start to get rolling in this chapter a little bit! Slowly but surely, we're moving into the actual plot. It felt a little rushed at a couple of parts, but for the most part I'm happy with it.**

**Anyway, I don't really have too much to ramble about this time, so enjoy!**

* * *

"Wait, you don't know how to use spirit artes?"

I cringed. Jude, at the very least, had the decency to keep his voice down, but it was still loud enough in the crowded lobby of the Student Services building to make me paranoid. We were seated on one of the many benches, sandwiches in hand. He'd asked me something about if I'd had any spirit channeling-related incidents that day, to which I'd told him that, "No, actually, but I've never really been able to do it anyway."

And now, here I was, regretting I'd even opened my mouth in the first place.

"No," I said, looking around nervously. "But I mean, it's not really a big deal, is it? Is it really so weird?"

"It's not _completely _unheard of, but it is pretty uncommon." He looked thoughtful for a moment before reaching his hand out to my forehead.

I pulled back, out of his reach. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just going to check your mana lobe," he said, reaching out again.

"Stop that." I swatted his hand away and made a face. "I've had it checked before. It's fine, I just can't use it for some reason."

He stared at me for a good minute before letting out a sigh. "Well, if you say so. I was just curious, that's all. I've never met someone like you before."

"Oh, I'm special, alright," I muttered, absently picking at a hangnail. I was silent while I waited for my heartbeat to return to normal. Would he really have been able to tell I didn't have a mana lobe just by touching my forehead? What would he think of me if he knew? Would he think I was some kind of freak?

It was exactly the kind of attention I didn't want. I bit into my sandwich, silently praying that Keegan figured something out soon. I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to keep this act up.

"So why did you ask me that, anyway?" I finally said, hoping to move the subject away from myself. "About the spirit artes, I mean. Is something wrong?"

He shrugged. "No, not really. I've just heard that there have been a lot of people coming to the hospital for spirit-related injuries today. I don't really know much about it – but I guess I'll find out later."

"Why, what's happening later?" I asked curiously.

"Residency training with Professor Haus," he said, and I didn't miss the way his cheeks flushed slightly and his lips pulled into a proud smile. I didn't blame him for being proud of himself. He was at least four years younger than the rest of the students here, and he was already about to graduate and become Professor Haus's assistant. He was doing a lot better than most 15 year-olds.

"Sounds fun! So, what, you help him take care of patients?"

"Pretty much, yeah. It's hard work, but I consider it an honour to get to work with someone like him." He glanced up at the large clock on the wall, his eyes widening when he realized the time. "Oh, crap! I'm going to be late for class." He popped the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.

"You always seem to be in a hurry," I said amusedly. I stretched back on the bench, folding my hands behind my head.

"Yeah, well _one _of us isn't an arts student who doesn't even need to pass," he shot back with a good-natured laugh.

I gave him a look of false shock. "Jude! It hurts me to know you don't think I take my studies seriously.

"I'm very sorry." He rolled his eyes and glanced at the clock again. "Hopefully class doesn't run late today. I have residency training at one, and I'd hate to be late."

"Just remember to take a minute to breathe," I told him, and I was only half-kidding. I got the feeling that this kid didn't give himself much time to relax.

"I'll try," he said seriously, and then headed off to class, nearly knocking someone over as he rounded the corner.

I laughed and shook my head. Well, Jude was right about _one _thing. I definitely wasn't taking my studies very seriously. While I'd always considered myself smart when it came to school, during my last two years of high school I'd come to a stage in my life where I was only good at applying myself to things that were either necessary or interesting, and most of the stuff I was learning was neither.

Thankfully, Keegan had enrolled me in the minimum amount of classes, and so while Jude always seemed to be rushing to or from a class, I'd only had two classes this morning and I was finished for the day. If only university back home was this easy. I was going to be so spoiled if I ever went home.

I paused, feeling a pang in my chest. _When _I went home. When. Not "if". There was no uncertainty about it. I was going to get home. Keegan was going to help me out, I just knew it. I couldn't afford to have any doubts, because holding on to that determination was the only thing keeping me sane.

I forced a smile onto my face. I probably looked really dumb just sitting here, grinning to myself, but I didn't care. There was that whole saying about how if you make yourself smile, you'll actually start to feel happier, right? That was what I was doing. It worked a little, anyway.

I gathered up the rest of my things and piled them into my bag. It was just after 11 am, which left plenty of the day open to do whatever I wanted. Not that there really was much _to _do. I could only wander around the city so many times before my legs got sore from the walking. Things weren't too bad when Jude was free to hang out, but that wasn't really all that often. Other than that, I didn't have anyone else to talk to, other than that Alvin guy. But even so, I hadn't seen him since we'd met that afternoon a couple of days ago. This whole "limiting myself to two friends thing", while probably the smart thing to do, was a little bit boring.

Regardless, I headed outside to see what I could find. Maybe I could find a bookstore or a cafe or something and spend some time there. I could also always take a walk to the seahaven and stare longingly at jewelry that I'd never actually buy. So many thrilling options.

I ended up finding my way to a street that was lined with specialty shops and restaurants. The buildings were close together, and the foliage from the treetops seemed to intertwine above the street, making it even darker than usual. The light from the lumen trees made up for it, though, casting a golden glow over everything.

I did manage to find a bookstore, and while none of the titles or authors, obviously, looked familiar to me, I picked out a couple anyways and just kind of hoped that they didn't turn out to be duds. After that, I decided to head back to the plaza so I could sit outside the hotel and read.

Once I got there, I stood and looked around for a minute. If I was going to read for a couple of hours, which I planned to if these books were actually any good, then I wanted to be comfortable. I scanned the area for my options. There were benches, but they weren't exactly what I'd call comfortable. The ground wasn't a much better option. Hmm...

In the end, I managed to find a patio table that was set up outside the hotel. It wasn't exactly a new discovery – most days that it was nice out, I usually ate my meals out here. The chairs were a dark green metal, but with black cushions that made them the perfect option. I sat myself down at an empty table, cracked open the first of three books, and started reading.

* * *

I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep until I felt someone's hand gently rousing me awake. I groggily lifted my head from the now drool-stained page of my book and looked around. What the heck? When had I fallen asleep?

"Sorry to wake you. You looked pretty comfortable."

I glanced up. Jude was standing there, now changed into his travelling coat, with a barely hidden smile on his face.

"Jude?" Suddenly very self-conscious, I wiped the drool off of my face and ran a hand through my hair. "What time is it?"

"Uh, almost six," he replied. "How long do you think you've been sleeping for?"

I blew some air out past my lips. "God, I don't even know. A couple hours, at least."

Again, he got that weirdly curious look on his face that he tended to get sometimes after I said something. For the life of me, though, I couldn't figure out why, and I knew he was too polite to bring it up, probably. Did I have a weird accent, or something?

"Anyway," I went on, closing my book. "What about you? How did training go?"

"Unexpectedly," he said, after a brief pause to choose his wording. "Professor Haus had to go to the Laforte Research Lab again – apparently that night we went, they asked him to a part of some kind of special secret research for the government."

"Is that so?" My body went stiff. Secret government research? I definitely didn't like the sound of that, especially considering what Keegan had told me about Exodus working with Rashugal. Hopefully it wasn't anything to do with that.

Jude nodded. "Yeah, which is pretty cool and all, but that meant I had to take over for him. It was a lot of work."

"I'd imagine," I agreed. "You look pretty tired. Heading home for the day?"

"Not quite," he said, yawning to prove my point. "I actually have to go get Professor Haus from the lab. He's going to be awarded the Howe Prize!"

I didn't say anything right away, trying not to give him too blank of a stare. Of course, I had no sweet clue what that was, but judging by his enthusiasm, it was probably some kind of prestigious award. Maybe like the Nobel Prize?

"That's great!" I finally said happily, perhaps a second too late. "I bet you'll be next in line, huh?"

"I could only ever dream," he said with a forlorn sigh. "Anyway, I should probably get going. Maybe I'll see you later?"

I nodded, fighting back a yawn myself. "If I don't fall asleep again, that is."

We shared a good laugh at that, and then said our goodbyes as he hurried back across the plaza towards the lab. As soon as he was gone, my stomach let out a loud growl, and I decided that it was time to eat. It was a good thing Keegan had left me lots of money, because I knew for sure that back home I would never be able to afford eating out for pretty much every meal except for breakfast (because hell yes, the hotel served free breakfast to its guests).

I decided to just grab something quick from across the plaza and browsed the few vendors that were set up there while I ate. I slurped at the noodles slowly, my logic being that it would take up more time until I could go home and go to bed. However, it really only managed to kill about a half hour, and then I was bored once again. Hmm, what to do?

I sighed and headed over to a railing to stare down at the water. If all else failed, admiring the scenery was always an excellent time killer. I leaned against the railing, secretly spying on unsuspecting citizens roaming the streets across the river.

Time passed, and as it did, I began to get the unsettling feeling that someone was watching me. More specifically, that the guard standing watch a couple of meters away was watching me. It had started normally, with just a few spare glances in my direction every ten minutes or so. But soon enough, it had evolved to full-on staring.

_Shit,_ I thought in a panic. _Why is he just staring at me? Am I doing something wrong? I can't be seen by guards. I can't, I can't, I can't, I - _

"Excuse me, miss?"

_That's it. I'm going to throw up. I've been found out. I'm going to end up back in that lab and probably _die_ there, and - _

"Yes?" I replied, turning to flash him an innocent smile. I was amazed at how calm I was able to force my voice to sound, but my body had begun shaking already. These guards weren't just regular soldiers in military uniforms – this guy was wearing a full suit of metal armour, a tall spear grasped firmly in one hand. So, naturally, his appearance didn't help to calm my nerves.

"I'm sorry, but may I see some identification?"

_Shit. _"Um, of course! Do you mind if I ask what for?"

"It's probably nothing," he replied calmly, but I didn't miss the way his fingers tightened around the shaft of the spear. "We have a warrant out for a girl about your age, and I just need to confirm that it isn't you."

"O-Okay..." I began digging through my bag, fingers shaking so badly that they were barely able to work the buckle on it. I was doing my best not to start crying. A warrant for some girl my age, from the government? It had to be me. They really were looking for me. Keegan had told me to avoid having to do this, but what choice did I have? _Not _showing my ID would just make me look even more suspicious.

I managed to grab a hold of it and reluctantly handed it over. He took it, lifting the visor on his helmet to get a better look at it.

"Gamble, huh..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and read the contents. "Strange. Everything on your card matches this description except for the last name. Why might that be?"

My eyes widened, and I did my best to sound as innocent as possible. "Um, that's really weird. I swear, I have no idea. I'm just a student, not some kind of criminal."

"Hmph." He handed me back the ID card, but continued to eye the paper he held. "Even still, you look quite similar to the girl in the photo we were shown. To be safe, I'm going to have to take you in for questioning."

_Photo? _My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. How the hell did they have a photo of me?

But then, my whole body froze as I realized that yes, they probably did have a photo of me. While my phone's battery had probably died long before they'd figured out how to search it for photos, they had also taken my wallet, which held my _real _ID card, and had a photo of me on it.

And now I was being brought in for questioning. My fate was pretty much sealed. How the hell was I going to reason with a city guard? My eyes burned – the waterworks were about to start, if I didn't pass out first.

"Hey, Jill! There you are!"

At first, I ignored the slightly familiar voice, because who the hell was Jill? Definitely not me, and I had bigger things to worry about right now. However, when I felt someone's arm sling around my shoulders, I realized that this person was talking to me.

"Alvin?" I said, my voice tiny and afraid.

"I've been looking all over for you," he said happily, giving a greeting nod to the guard. "Maggie told me to find you and let you know there's been a mixup. You took her ID card by mistake."

"What?"

He winked down at me, so quickly I barely noticed it, and looked at the guard. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation while I was walking up. You're looking for a girl named Maggie, right?"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step aside," the guard said gruffly, but there was no missing the confusion in his face. "You're interfering with official military business."

"I realize that, really. But see, this isn't Maggie," said Alvin, and I was amazed at how calmly and smoothly he was able to just lie right to a guard's face. "This is my friend Jill. Like I said, there was some kind of mixup and their IDs got switched." He shrugged. "I don't know the whole story. Poor Jill here didn't even realize, did you?"

I blinked slowly, my head reeling. "Uh, yeah, that's right." I glanced down at the card in my hand and slapped a hand to my forehead, forcing out a laugh. "Wow, I'm dumb. I can't believe I didn't notice."

"Maggie is having dinner at the High Flag Tavern, if you wanted to go find her. If there's some kind of trouble, I'm sure she would be happy to know." Alvin smiled, giving my shoulders a squeeze. "As for my friend and I here, I was just meeting her so we could go grab a coffee. You wouldn't mind letting us hit the road, would you?"

The guard looked back and forth between the two of us for a long, agonizing minute. Finally, he sighed and tucked the paper back into his pocket.

"I suppose that's fine. I'm sorry for the confusion, miss. I'll go have a chat with your friend." And with that, he was off to the tavern where our imaginary friend was waiting, and I was able to breathe properly again.

"Holy shit," I breathed, pretty much collapsing against the railing. Alvin grabbed my arm to steady me, raising an eyebrow.

"You mind telling me what the hell I just got you out of?"

"Just...give me a minute to calm down, would you?" I said shakily. I wiped the layer of sweat off of my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut, doing my best not to start bawling right in front of him.

"You realize I might not be around next time to do that, right?" he pressed on, frowning. "Are you in some kind of trouble or something?"

"I _can't_–" I cut off, cringing as I realized I'd started to yell at him. I took a deep breath and started again. "I can't say, exactly. It's a really long story, but the short version is that I'm basically in a shit load of trouble if they actually bring me in. I'm supposed to be laying low, but now that guy is going to realize that I actually _am _Maggie and he's going to come back here and–"

"Shh. You need to calm down before you start hyperventilating."

_Too late for that, _I thought, as my breathing began to hitch and come out quickly and shallowly.

"_Hey."_ His tone was firm, and his hand gently touched the side of my face in an effort to calm me down. "Look, I don't know the whole story. I don't need to. But, if you're in some kind of trouble with the guards, then you should probably get out of town."

His gentle touch had begun to calm me down a _little, _but as soon as he mentioned leaving town I started panicking again.

_"What?!_ No. No, no, no, I can't do that! Where am I supposed to go? I'm supposed to wait here for Kee...for my brother to come back. I can't just take off on my own!"

"Well, where _is _this brother of yours, anyway?"

"In Auj Oule," I said quietly, still rational enough in my panic attack to not give too much information about Keegan away. "But I have no idea where."

"Okay..." He tapped on his chin, taking a moment to think. "Well, what about your parents? Where are you from?"

"Sharilton, but..." I trailed off. But what? Keegan had given me extra money specifically for this reason – an emergency. Leaving the city by boat hadn't been totally out of the question for him, but the thought was still daunting – no, scratch that. It was absolutely _terrifying._

"Sharilton, huh?" Alvin pondered that for a minute. "Well, it's still in Rashugal, but it's better than nothing, I guess. There's probably a boat leaving in the morning, I would imagine."

"I can't wait that long," I said, already digging in my bag for my coin purse. "Do you think there would be any ships sailing tonight?"

"Maybe a few," he began, "but–"

"Thank you so much, Alvin." I reached up and gave him a hug, squeezing as tight as I could. "You have no idea what you helped me out of. Hopefully we'll meet again someday."

"Uh, you're certainly welcome!" he said with a laugh. "But, don't you think–?"

I didn't give him a chance to finish. I took off across the plaza, throwing the doors open to the hotel and running as quickly as socially acceptable across the lobby. Who knew if I was going to end up in Sharilton or not? I'd worry about that later. Right now, all I was concerned with was packing my things and getting my ass to that seahaven.

* * *

By the time I'd made it to the seahaven, my lungs were on fire. I'd sprinted any opportunity I got, only slowing my pace whenever a guard came into view. Finally, though, I reached the seahaven, and only paused a brief moment to catch my breath before heading over to the dock.

A small booth was set up just before the loading area, and a young man in a uniform sat behind the counter, looking just about ready to be done for the day. He perked up slightly as I approached, painting on that fake customer service smile that I knew all too well.

"Um, hi," I said, glancing over my shoulder before continuing. "When is the next ship for Sharilton leaving?"

He looked a bit confused at my phrasing. "If you mean the Sapstrath Seahaven, then I'm sorry, but the next ship doesn't leave until the morning."

I resisted the urge to curse. Alvin had been right. There was no way I was waiting around in this city until the morning, though. I adjusted the strap on my knapsack and bit my lip, giving him a hopeful look.

"Are there _any_ ships leaving tonight?"

"There is a ship set to depart for the Aladhi Seahaven shortly," he said, after glancing down at a schedule sheet. "However, it's a cargo ship. It isn't exactly open to passengers."

"_Please,_" I said desperately. "It's really important that I leave as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry, but–"

It was then that I remembered the pendant Keegan had given me. I hastily pulled it out from under the collar of my dress and showed it to him.

"You know the merchant, Gamble, right?" I asked him. I had to resist the urge to use Keegan's first name. I wasn't entirely sure if that was common knowledge, and I didn't want to put him at any risk. "Well, he's my brother. He told me to show this if I needed to get on a ship."

His eyes widened. "Oh, wow! My apologies, miss. Mr. Gamble does a lot of business through the merchant ships here. I'm sure if you show that to the captain he'll make an exception for you." He pressed a button on the wall beside him, and the barrier blocking off entrance from the loading area lifted. "Have a safe voyage."

I had to stop myself from letting out pretty much the hugest sigh of relief in the history of relieved sighs. I hurried past him and over to the ship he had pointed to. It was pretty huge – bigger than any ship I had ever seen, anyway, which still wasn't really saying a lot. Sailors in white and blue uniforms hurried to and fro, no doubt preparing to set sail. I walked up to one of the ones who still stood on the dock, lifting crates and carrying them onto the ship.

"Um hi," I said awkwardly. "I was told I could speak to the captain?"

"I told him no passengers!" someone called from the ship. I glanced up to see a tall, pretty intimidating man standing at the head of the gangplank. He had snow white hair, and a beard that reached past the base of his neck – a very stereotypical looking captain.

"I-I know," I began nervously. "But, well...my brother is the merchant, Gamble. You know him, right?"

He eyed me suspiciously. "Is that so? I wasn't aware Gamble had a sister."

"I have this necklace; it's his symbol."

"Come show me."

I eyed the gangplank nervously. I barely knew how to swim; boarding boats had always been something that made me nervous. However, ending up back in the hands of Exodus made me just a little bit more nervous, so I swallowed my fear and walked up to him.

Once on the ship, I held the necklace away from my neck so he could see it. He examined it closely before seeming satisfied and let out a booming laugh.

"Well, I'll be! You really are his sister, huh?" He clapped me on the back, hard enough to make me lose my balance. "Sorry for any hostility. You wanna sail with us?"

"Yes please." I gave him a smile, feeling much of the tension drain from my body. I wouldn't be completely at ease until the ship left the seahaven, but for now, it was a start.

"Very well. We set sail in about 20 minutes. Make yourself comfortable." He gave me a curt nod and walked away, leaving me alone.

I sighed heavily and leaned against the railing of the ship. For the time-being, adrenaline was keeping me from having a _total_ meltdown, but I knew that as soon as I was left alone with my own thoughts for longer than an hour, it was really going to sink in that the plan Keegan had set up for me had really fallen apart, and I was going into the rest of it blind.

Aladhi Seahaven. I had no idea where that was, but I was pretty sure it was in Auj Oule. Auj Oule could potentially have been ideal for me – maybe finding Keegan was the best option right now. The whole distraction method clearly hadn't worked, so I would probably be safer if I just met up with him again.

I listened to the sound of the ocean lapping against the dock, using it to calm my nerves. However, that peace was shattered when the sound of shouting could be heard from the dock. I immediately tensed, running to the end of the ship to get a better look at what was going on.

_Jude...? _My heart started pounding.

Sure enough, Jude was standing in the port, and with him was a girl I'd never seen before; tall and slim, with long, billowing blonde hair and a skimpy outfit. A group of guards was circling them, the leader of which was barking at them to stop where they were. People milling about the port gathered around in curiosity, and once they began murmuring to each other, I couldn't really make out what was being said.

_What the hell did you manage to get yourself into, Jude?_

"Trouble?" a sailor who had come to stand beside me asked.

I shrugged, biting my lip nervously. I sure hoped not.

"Jude Mathis," the leader said, and I turned my attention back to the scene. If I really strained, I could hear what was being said. From what I could tell, the leader sounded a bit sad. "I have...a warrant for your arrest. There's one for her too. I'm authorized to use force if necessary, but I don't want to hurt you."

"But wait, just hold on a minute!" Jude exclaimed desperately. "We may have done a little breaking-and-entering, but that hardly makes us public enemy number one!"

Breaking-and-entering? I remembered the night that the guard wouldn't let Jude into the lab. Had he snuck in with this girl? Had he seen something he wasn't supposed to? My mind was racing with possibilities. I wanted to do something to help, but from behind me I could hear the captain barking orders, and I knew we were about to set sail.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw the guards raise their weapons. The girl put a hand on her hip and said something to Jude.

"Mr. Eldin!" he pressed.

"I'm sorry," this "Mr. Eldin" said sadly, "but I'm afraid I have my orders."

The girl stepped forward, drawing her sword and taking on a fighting stance. Jude jumped back a bit, looking from her to Eldin.

"Then we'll do it the hard way," Eldin said with a sigh. He gestured to his men. "Go on, get her!"

One of them held out a staff, and a great ball of fire shot from the top of it. I bit back a scream as the girl smoothly dodged it, and Jude scrambled out of the way. It sailed right past them, into the hopefully vacant booth with a loud explosion that sent several dockworkers flying. The crowd around them quickly dispersed with frightened screams as ash and dust rained down on the dock.

Behind me, the ships horn sounded, loud and deep. I felt the deck jerk beneath me as we began to slowly get into motion. The girl suddenly turned, leaving Jude behind to rush up the length of the loading area and jump with amazing speed and grace onto the deck of the ship. Several sailors scrambled out of the way, looking shocked.

I stared at her in awe for a moment before remembering the real problem at hand.

"Shit, Jude," I hissed, looking back to the dock. It was slowly but surely beginning to get farther away, and the guards were moving in on him. I wanted to yell out to him, but what good would it have done? He was about to get arrested, and there wasn't anything I could do to help.

From the corner of my eye, I saw movement. A blur of brown as a tall man in a very familiar coat broke through the group, dropping each soldier to the ground with only a couple of hits. Jude took a few steps back as the man took a pretty dramatic pause, then immediately reached up to adjust his scarf.

"Alvin, too?" What the hell was going on?

"You know those two?" I'd almost forgotten that sailor was still standing there. I simply nodded, keeping my eyes locked on the scene in front of me. A few sailors had gathered to speak to the girl, and I heard the captain's loud, booming voice as well. I drowned it out, for the time being.

Alvin slung his arm around Jude's shoulders, exchanging a few words before even more guards began flooding the seahaven. A brief look was exchanged between the two of them and then they started running, Jude lagging behind considerably. Alvin noticed this and fell back to scoop him up under his arm, jumping up on a pile of crates and continuing to run. Was he trying to get on the ship?

_Shit, hurry up! _I wanted to shout, but fear kept me silent.

He leapt up onto a 2×4 being moved by a crane, and when he reached the end, he jumped without hesitation, coming down to land on the deck of the ship with a hard thunk that nearly shook the boards beneath me.

"What's going on here?!" the captain barked angrily, having had to scramble out of the way to avoid being landed on.

Alvin, who was still seated on the deck, glanced up at the captain and gave him a sheepish smile. "The military's doing drills or something on shore. We were just...getting out of their way."

"That ain't what it looked like," the captain said hotly.

"C'mon!" Alvin insisted cheerfully. "Do you really think a pipsqueak, a pretty girl, and a dashing man like me would be up to no good?" He turned to wink at the girl, giving a lazy two-finger salute.

The captain looked like he wanted to rip Alvin a new one, so I decided I should probably step in.

"I-It's okay!" I called out, hurrying over.

Jude, who was still recovering from the rough landing, glanced up in shock. "M-Maggie!?"

"I know them," I told the captain, giving Jude a small wave. "It's okay. You can trust them, I promise. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility."

"See? What did I tell you?" said Alvin. He slung an arm around my shoulder and muttered, "I see you found a ship to sail, huh?"

The captain still looked unimpressed, but he seemed to trust me enough, so with a final, wary look at the uninvited trio, he left us all alone.

Jude got to his feet, finally, and gave me an incredulous look. "What's going on? How come you're on this ship?"

"I could ask you the same question," I said, scowling at him. "What's this about almost being arrested? What the hell happened?"

"Is this a friend of yours, Jude?" the girl asked, finally walking over to join us. Now that she was up close, I was able to take in her appearance more closely. To make a long story short, she looked like something a horny guy created in a lab – tall, with a slim waist, huge boobs and mile-long legs, all barely covered by a mini skirt and tube top. Her eyes were pink, and while most of her hair was a dark blonde, the tips of it were dyed a lighter blonde, and one stray strand that seemed to defy gravity a sort of turquoise green.

"Yeah," said Jude, while I was busy gawking at the hottest woman I'd ever seen. "We go to school together. Maggie, this is Milla."

I nodded, giving her a short wave. "Uh, nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Her voice was low and almost monotonous.

"So, is he your partner in crime?" Alvin asked me in a joking tone. "Part of the reason you wanted to skip town?"

"Definitely not," I replied. "Especially considering I didn't _break_ any laws." At this, I gave Jude a pointed look.

"Look, it's all just a big misunderstanding," Jude insisted. "Do you really think I'd purposely break the law?"

I sighed. "Of course not. That's why I'm really curious to find out what happened."

"That doesn't really matter right now," Alvin said casually, coming to stand between the two of us. "What matters is that everyone's safe, right?"

"Yeah, thanks to you," I said gratefully. "You're like some kind of hero to misunderstood youth."

"Wait, that's right!" Jude glanced between the two of us, looking confused. "You two seem to know each other."

"We're actually married," Alvin said with a very serious expression. So serious, in fact, that I knew gullible little Jude probably actually believed him. "It's been nearly a year, since the tragic incident that split us apart..."

Jude's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"No, you dummy," I said, rolling my eyes. I gave Alvin a hard shove. "This is that Alvin guy I told you about, as chance would have it."

Jude's face did an instant deadpan, one so perfect I almost wished I'd had a camera to capture it. "Huh. From what you've told me, that definitely makes sense."

"Huh," said Alvin, a jokingly bitter smile on his face. "For some weird reason, I don't get the impression he's heard _good _things about me."

"Where is this ship headed?" Milla asked suddenly, cutting across the group to stand in front of me and effectively leaving Alvin's musings unanswered.

"Um, the Aladhi Seahaven," I replied, not wanting to meet Jude's eyes. I knew exactly the kind of reaction he would have if he realized he was being spirited off to Auj Oule. Maybe if I was lucky, he wouldn't catch on. That could happen, right?

"Wait a second," he said in alarm. "Did you just say the _Aladhi_ Seahaven?"

"Um, yes." I reached out to grab him by the shoulders, looking him square in his amber, _very_ panic-stricken eyes. "Listen, Jude, _please _don't freak out. Everything is going to turn out fine, okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." He cast his eyes downward, looking more bummed out than I'd ever seen him.

Alvin clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Hang in there, kid."

I knew something like that from someone like Alvin really wasn't going to do much to cheer him up, so I grabbed his hand.

"C'mon, let's go for a walk. We can swap our horror stories. Sound fun?"

He forced a small smile. "Yeah. Okay."

The two of us left Milla and Alvin to mingle (the very thought made me laugh, considering Milla was clearly very serious and Alvin was...well, he was Alvin), and walked to the other end of the boat. Jude remained pretty quiet, staring sadly at the wooden planks beneath him. I figured it would be best for me to talk first.

"So...you're probably wondering why I was just randomly skipping town, huh?"

"Yeah, what happened?" he asked. The anxiety in his expression gave way to curiosity, at least a little bit, anyway. "Last time I saw you, you were passed out drooling on a book."

"Rude."

"Kidding. But seriously, did something bad happen?"

I started chewing on my lip. Sure, it was one thing _saying _that I was going to tell him what happened, but it also wasn't like I could just tell him the whole story. Jude was trustworthy and all, but I definitely wasn't about to drop the whole "otherworld" bomb on him. So where did I start?

"I had...a run in, with this guard," I began, choosing my words carefully. "They were looking for someone with the same name as me, and apparently she looks a lot like me."

"Really?" This was enough to catch his interest completely, although he mostly looked concerned. "So they tried to bring you in for questioning?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The only reason that didn't happen is because Alvin happened to show up and get me out of it. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn't?" I shivered then, and whether it was from the cool sea breeze or the thought of ending up under Elias's "care" again, I couldn't say. "A-Anyway, Alvin made it pretty clear that it would probably just keep happening, so..." I trailed off, shrugging. The rest was pretty self-explanatory.

"That's an awful big coincidence though," said Jude. "Are you _sure _it isn't you they're after?"

_"Jude!" _I smacked his arm, faking anger. "What, you think I'm really some kind of criminal?

"That's not what I mean!" he said defensively. He let out a laugh when he realized I was joking. "It's just...after what I've seen tonight, it wouldn't surprise me if the military _was _up to something bad." At this, his face fell again, the small amount of cheer I'd managed to transfer to him snuffed out like a flame.

"Jude...what exactly happened?" I asked quietly. "And who is that girl?"

He didn't speak right away. When he did, it was in a quiet, troubled voice. "Like I said, her name is Milla. I caught her sneaking into the Research Lab and decided to follow her, since I was worried about...about Professor Haus." He took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "I ended up stumbling across this room with...all of these weird tubes, and...Professor Haus he...he was inside one of them."

"What?!" At that, I was instantly more alert, training wide eyes on him. "What do you mean? Is he okay?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head as if to block out the memory. "It wasn't just him. There were others, and these tubes...they were draining the mana out of their bodies. I watched him disintegrate right in front of me."

I clapped a hand over my mouth, my stomach churning. "But, that's..."

"Anyway," he said, and it was in a cold tone that suggested, again, that he was blocking the painful memory from his mind. "There was this weird girl in red there, and this huge, mana-sucking weapon...then Milla summoned the Four Great Spirits, and they were captured, a-and..."

"Calm down, Jude," I said gently, although it was hard to act calm myself when he was spewing out so much insane, troubling information. "So, some weird girl in red. Start with her, maybe?"

"O-Okay..." He took another deep breath to calm himself down. "When I got to the room with the...you know. When I got there, this girl in red attacked me. I have no idea who she was, and...she would have killed me, if Milla hadn't shown up."

"Holy shit, Jude..." I breathed. I ran my hand through my hair and looked out at the ocean. The emerald sky stretched out for miles, creating the most breathtaking view I'd ever seen. "Okay, and that weapon? Do you think that's what killed...well, you know."

"Mhm." He glanced over his shoulder towards Milla and Alvin. Despite my reassurances to the captain, the old man was currently over there grilling the two of them. Alvin no doubt had the charm cranked up to 11, but I doubted it was working on the old man. "I think Milla came to the lab to destroy it. She told me...well, she says that she's Maxwell."

"Maxwell?" I wracked my brain for the limited knowledge I had on this world. Maxwell...some kind of...lord of something...Lord of Spirits, maybe? "That's...the Lord of Spirits, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I found it hard to believe at first too, but then I saw her summon the Four. That machine thing...something she called a spyrix. It captured the Four, and now she's just like a regular human. She can barely swing a sword now."

I nodded thoughtfully, doing my best to look shocked. I mean, don't get me wrong, it _was_ a pretty intense story, but Jude had lost me with all this talk of summoning the Four.

"I can't believe that happened to you," I said, shaking my head. "And after all that, the military tried to arrest you? Didn't you explain what happened?"

"I tried to! They wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, which...leads me to believe that they're in on the whole thing..."

As he trailed off sadly, I cursed under my breath again. This whole thing was seriously messed up. Was the Rashugal military seriously so corrupt that they'd just hunt down a couple of teenagers who hadn't done anything wrong? It was such bullshit!

"Arghhhh, dammit!" I let out a frustrated groan, stretching my arms out and placing them on the railing. I took a moment to stare at the sea again to calm myself, and then forced a smile on my face. "Oh well! Look on the bright side."

Jude let out a humourless laugh. "There's a bright side?"

"Yep! Now we've both been screwed by the military. It gives us something in common, right?"

He stared at me with a blank expression for several long seconds before cracking up into real laughter. He shook his head, giving me a light punch "You're awful."

"Hey, it made you laugh, right?" I said cheerfully. Okay, so maybe it was the shittiest silver lining of all time, but at least I'd gotten Jude to crack a real smile. Something told me that with both of our lives quickly going up in flames, stupid jokes like that were the only thing that would keep us from going insane.

* * *

**And that's that! Auj Oule, here we come!**

**Don't worry, I haven't missed the fact that Jill is an actual character in the game. I'll touch on it next chapter, hehe**

**As fun as it was writing non-plot stuff in Fennmont, I'm excited that the party is coming together now, and even more excited to get to write Milla! Next chapter will probably expand a lot on the boat ride to Aladhi Seahaven, so I'll get the chance to get a feel for her character :)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Leave a review and let me know what you think so faaaaaaaaaaar**

**And have a nice day!**


	4. Ingesting Calories

**Hey guys!**

**So this update is super compared to the last few, holy crap! I also took a bit longer to write it, though, so it balances out, I think.**

**Hmm usually I like to babble on at the start of these things, but this time I surprisingly have nothing to say! I'll save it all for the end of the chapter I guess.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading so far! Enjoy :)**

* * *

It wasn't much later that Alvin and Milla came strolling over to us. Alvin had his arms outstretched, hands clasped behind his head as he loudly complained about the captain's constant badgering.

"That captain needs to lay off a bit," he said irritably. "Is he planning to grill us the entire voyage?"

"What do you expect?" said Milla. "We don't have any sort of identification."

"We also all watched your guys's spectacle on shore," I added helpfully once they reached us. "So naturally your excuses aren't going to hold up very well."

Alvin waved a dismissive hand before training his gaze on Jude. "What about you, kid? How are you making out?"

"Fine." He offered Alvin and Milla (mostly Milla) a half-assed smile before looking back out to sea. "I just...can't believe we're going to Auj Oule."

I couldn't even imagine what Jude was going through right now. While it was true that _I'd _been forced to flee Fennmont as well, I also hadn't been forced to abandon a medical school I'd worked for years to be admitted to, consequentially most likely ruining my future. It would be the equivalent of me breaking into Parliament and then fleeing the country to France or something. Overall, just not a good situation. He was bound to be pretty bummed no matter how many stupid jokes I threw his way.

I looked up at the sky. Slowly, but surely, the emerald stars were beginning to fade away in place of late evening sky, the sun slowly dipping low below the horizon and painting the ocean in gold hues.

"Look," said Alvin, nudging Jude. "We're leaving Fennmont's spirit clime."

"Finally!" I said happily, leaning back on the railing. "It feels like I haven't seen blue sky in forever."

Jude remained silent. It was pretty clear that he didn't need any more reminders that we were leaving Fennmont.

"Hey, uh, can I ask you something?" Jude said suddenly, turning to Alvin.

"Fire away."

"Why did you save us? What's in it for you?"

"Well, cash, of course." Alvin smirked, as though it should be the most obvious answer in the world.

Milla crossed her arms. "How does saving us make you money?"

"Simple," Alvin replied, and he began pacing around. "I figure you must be in serious trouble if the military's after you. Now that I've swung to your rescue and impressed you with my derring-do, I can charge you for my services."

I gaped at him. He'd just saved these two from being arrested, and now he was going to make them pay for it? What a swell, caring guy. I shook my head and gave him an incredulous look.

Jude shared my sentiments. "Charge us what?" he asked, patting down his pockets. "I'm nearly broke."

"Same goes for me, I'm afraid," said Milla. I gave her another once-over. Well, she certainly seemed to be travelling light. I didn't even see a bag – nothing more than the sword on her hip. Perhaps being the "Lord of Spirits" made you exempt from personal hygiene and paying for things?

"Seriously?" Alvin glanced between the two of them, frowning. "I take more than just cash, you know. Don't you have any precious metals? Jewels? Rich relatives about to croak?" He dropped a good-natured wink after this, but it was clear that he was seriously grasping for straws.

"Nothing on me," said Jude. His gaze found its new home on the ground once again. "Everything happened so fast. Most of my things are back in Fennmont."

Milla thought for a minute, but ended up shaking her head all the same. "I doubt I have anything that would sell for a high price either."

"Is this how you make a living?" I asked him. "Saving young folks from being arrested and then charging them money for it?"

"Yeah, what exactly do you do, Alvin?" Jude asked. "You look like a soldier, but...well, you sure don't act like one."

Alvin chuckled. "Heh! Well, you're on the right track kid – I'm a mercenary."

"So hired muscle, huh?" I said. All I could think about were those thugs people sent after you in Skyrim when you stole an apple or something from their house.

"Something like that," he said, giving me an amused look. "Regardless, it's a hell of a lot better than being a soldier. We don't have to follow orders. We set our own hours – and we help people! For a price, that is."

_How noble._

"Well, it would seem like you helped _us_ for free," said Milla, pretty much settling the fact that neither one of them were going to pay him.

"Ah well," he said forlornly. "It's a risk of the trade. Maybe I'll find some paying customers in Auj Oule, huh?"

"I'm sorry about that," said Jude, and I knew he genuinely felt bad.

"Well, you helped me too," I spoke up, digging through my bag. I pulled out one of the coin purses Keegan had given me and loosened the drawstring. "The least I can do is pay you a little extra to make up for it, right?"

His eyes widened. "O-ho! Check out moneybags over here. Get that from your big brother, did you?"

I ignored the sly dig, but only because he'd gotten my ass out of some pretty hot water. "Well, yeah. So, how much for saving three people?"

"M-Maggie!" Jude placed a hand on my arm before I could start digging through the pouch. "I can't let you do that. That's your gald – you hold on to it."

"Jude is right," said Milla. She offered me a small smile, and the action made her usually cold face look much more approachable. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I cannot accept it."

"You guys don't have to," I said, and then turned to Alvin. "Well, Alvin?"

"As much as I'd hate to do this, I agree." He slung an arm around my shoulder and grinned. "I wouldn't feel right taking so much money from such a pretty little lady like you."

I scowled, shrugging away from him. "Fine! I guess that's fine. But Jude–" I pointed a finger at him and made my voice stern. "Once we get to shore, you're going to let me buy you some new supplies, okay?"

"Okay," he said with a smile. My voice wasn't the least bit intimidating, but he knew I wouldn't give up until he said yes.

"Now that you mention it..." Alvin grabbed my wrist and started leading me away from Jude and Milla. "How about you and I discuss _your _payment?"

"Of course," I said. I held the pouch out to him. "Like I asked – how much?"

"I'll make you a deal," he said, dropping his voice as we passed by some sailors. "I'll only take 800 from you, but in exchange, I'd like some information."

"Information?" My stomach stirred a bit. I don't know why I'd bothered playing dumb – I knew exactly what kind of information he wanted. It was the kind that I'd _started_ to divulge, but only because I'd thought that we'd never meet again and I'd never be put in the situation where I'd have to finish.

"Yep."

I chewed on my lip, buying a few seconds of mental preparation while I stared at the churning ocean waves. There wasn't much point in trying to lie like I'd done with Jude – Alvin knew the guards were after me. He knew I was terrified of them – I just had to think of some reason _why._

"It's...a long story," I said sheepishly. Yeah, right. As if he was going to buy that.

"Is that so?" He hoisted himself up onto a pile of wooden crates and patted the space beside him. "Lucky for us, it should take until at least tomorrow afternoon to reach Auj Oule. Plenty of time for 'long stories'."

I groaned, reluctantly jumping up beside him. Hopefully halfway through this conversation the top of the crate would break and we would fall through into a bunch of smelly fish or something.

"It isn't just long," I said carefully. "It's...I don't know. I can't really tell you the full version."

"Aw, c'mon. What's wrong? Don't you trust this face?" Alvin flashed me one of those same dazzling smiles he'd used to convince me to let him buy me lunch, and despite all of my nerves it was enough to make my face flush.

"Oh, I don't know." I forced myself to laugh, hoping it would alleviate some of my nerves. "Look, it's not like I don't _want _to tell you – you saved me from those guards, so you seem pretty trustworthy. But..." _You probably wouldn't believe me, even if I did. I barely believe it myself. _"I...just can't explain it all. The details, I mean."

"Then just give me the gist of it," he suggested. He opened his bag and pulled out a couple of packaged potato salads, the kind with the plastic fork attached to the top. My stomach stirred, both with hunger and the complete familiarity of the sight. It was just...normal. Comforting. "Over a nice, lukewarm meal, huh? How about it?"

"You found my weakness," I said with a sigh, grabbing the package from his hand. "Okay? You're lucky that potato salad is in my top five favourite foods or this would not be happening right now."

"I'll keep that in mind for the future," he said cheerfully. Taking a bite of his own food and giving me an expectant look, he waved his hand for me to begin.

"Okay, uh...um...hm." I popped the cover off of my food and took a huge bite. Alvin was right – it was pretty lukewarm from sitting in his bag for God knows how long, but it was still delicious. It reminded me of home, filling me with a sense of comfort. "I...don't know how much Milla has told you about what happened in that lab, but basically, the Rashugal military is...well, it's not a good situation. They're...experimenting on people."

His eyebrows flew up. "Really? That's the first I've heard of that."

"Mhm. A-Anyway, I wasn't just...going to school in Fennmont. I-I was...hiding out. From the guards."

"I've figured that much out," he said, nodding thoughtfully. "The guards looking for a girl who looked just like you, with the same name? I'd say that's a little bit more than a coincidence." He sighed, stretching his legs out and taking another bite. "So then, what is it? You're an escaped test subject, then? They're looking to stop you from leaking what happened?"

Huh. That wasn't a total lie, was it? From what I'd gathered, the only way anyone would be able to tell I didn't have a mana lobe would be to use some kind of spirit channelling to check. As long as Alvin didn't do that, I was safe to latch on to the lead he'd given me. Still, the thought of that needle plunging into my neck and sending fire through my veins was enough to cause a lump to form in my throat, and I knew it wouldn't be difficult to sell the story.

"Y-Yeah," I said quietly, staring down into my potato salad. "They...captured me, from Sharilton. I still don't really understand what happened, but I ended up in Fort Gandala, strapped to a table with some _freak_ poking needles into me." My voice had grown shaky. I was on the verge of tears, so I hastily sniffed them back and laughed. "S-Sorry. I really shouldn't be telling you all this."

"Don't worry about it," he assured me. He made a zippering motion across his lips and winked. "My lips are sealed. That was plenty enough payment for me."

I sighed a shaky sigh of relief and smiled tiredly at him. "Thank you, Alvin. But, um, can I ask you a question now?"

"Hm? Sure thing. What is it?"

"Who's this 'Jill' that I was impersonating?" My tired smile gave way to an innocent one as I tried to pick some of my own information out of him. "Some kind of girlfriend?"

He looked super surprised to hear me mention that name – and I mean _really _surprised, like he'd just seen a ghost or something. He quickly recovered though, smoothing his expression back into that same carefree smile of his.

"Something like that. A bit of an old flame, you know? It was just the first name that came to mind." He finished off his salad in one, huge, bite and then hopped up from the crate, stretching his arms out. "Why, jealous?"

I blushed, turning my head away. "Obviously, Alvin. You caught me."

He shrugged. "Hey – you better watch the sarcasm. Some people tend to interpret it as the truth, you know."

"Well then those people are clearly not very smart," I said, jumping down as well. I started shovelling the rest of my meal into my lunch, hoping that maybe if I choked on it he would feel bad for me and stop teasing me. Regardless, I definitely hadn't missed the way he'd smoothly deflected my own teasing jab by sending it right back at me. This "Jill" girl was clearly a soft spot for him, but he was such a master at embarrassment that I was never even going to get to use it against him.

"Hey, guys."

_And cue Jude, clearing up the awkward moment._

"Hey, Jude," I said happily. "What's up?"

"Not much," he replied. I noticed he was holding a couple of pillows and some blankets. He held them out to us. "There are no beds they can spare us, but they did have extra bedding so we can set up camp on the deck."

"Cozy," Alvin commented, glancing up at the sky. "At least it doesn't look like it's calling for rain."

"Aw, well this will be fun," I said optimistically. "It'll be like a little slumber party, and we can tell ghost stories and play truth or dare–"

"Truth or dare with Milla," said Jude, and the very thought forced a laugh out of him. "That would be pretty interesting, I have to admit."

"Then let's get to it!" I looked up to the upper part of the deck (the, uh, port? The starboard? I'd never been good with parts of the boat) and saw that Jude and Milla had already set up their makeshift beds. Milla currently stood nearby, staring thoughtfully out to sea. The way she was so serious all the time struck me as odd. She couldn't have been much older than me, and yet she acted like some kind of sombre, old sage or something. Then again, Jude _had _told me she was apparently the "Lord of Spirits", so that probably wasn't too far off the mark.

Alvin clapped me on the back. "Well then, shall we go? We should try to set up close together, in case it gets cold tonight and you want to borrow my body heat."

"You're awful." I rolled my eyes and elbowed him lightly in the gut to distract from the stupid blush that had formed in my cheeks yet again. "You don't want to get too close to me anyway – I'm a squirmy sleeper."

I didn't offer much more room for banter. Instead, I took the bedding from Jude and headed over to our little campsite. I definitely wasn't looking forward to sleeping on hard, wooden planks, but it was just for one night. I'd never slept under the stars before, or next to an ocean, so at least the combination of the two would make for an exciting sleep.

I gave a quick hello to Milla and started unfolding the blankets. To my surprise, she actually left her spot to come stand by me, giving me a curious look.

"So, you and Jude are classmates?"

I looked up at smiled at her. "Uh, yeah! Well, I mean...not anymore, I guess."

She placed a hand on her chin. "Why is it that you were on this ship? Jude seemed surprised to see you."

"That's...a long story, I'm afraid." I laughed, running a hand through my hair. I'd only told Alvin because I sort of owed it to him. I wasn't about to recount the whole thing to this stranger. "Um, I basically got into some trouble with the guards as well – a total misunderstanding, but I didn't feel safe there anymore. Hopefully...I'll be able to find my brother once we reach the shore."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks."

Annnnnnnnd awkward silence. For me, it was awkward, anyway. For Milla, she had simply finished saying everything she wanted to say. I got the impression that she didn't really concern herself with how others viewed her, which was pretty admirable, really, but made for awkward conversation.

About 20 minutes later, we were all set up and tucked in to our cozy little beds. I had pretty much collapsed against the deck upon setting up my bed, feeling the day's events take a sudden, harsh toll on me. The ocean crashed gently against the hull of the ship, instantly soothing my frayed nerves. As I stared up at the starry sky, I mulled over the day's events in my mind, and thought about what was going to happen once we reached our destination.

Getting a hold of Keegan somehow was going to be my first objective. I took the pendant out of my dress and held in front of my face, watching the moonlight glint off of the emerald. This thing had gotten me aboard this ship, and pretty much every sailor I'd spoken with knew who "Gamble" was. Going by that logic, it wouldn't be too difficult to find someone to help me out, right?

I sighed softly, turning over on my side. I'd, for some reason, decided to replace the gorgeous view of the sparkling sky with the back of Jude's coat. I followed the pattern on it, hoping the motion would lull me to sleep before I started to think about the more frightening aspects of the day.

But, of course, it didn't. Left to myself like this, the reality of the situation was finally starting to sink in. Keegan's plan had failed, and now I was wandering blindly into Auj Oule. Was I just going to be stranded in the seahaven? There had to at least be an inn or something there, right?

I squeezed my eyes shut. Okay, deep breaths. I had to keep looking on the positive side. As long as I was away from Rashugal soldiers and not captured, that was what mattered. Anything else, I could deal with as it came at me – as long as I was alive, there was hope of returning home.

* * *

Alvin hadn't been too far off the mark – it had to be a little bit passed noon when we reached Aladhi Seahaven the next day. The sky was tinted a pale pink colour, and I had one of the sailors explain to me that it was because of the spirit clime here. The sky was pink during the day, but, thankfully, still darkened to give way to stars and moonlight at night. Good. If I was going to be staying here for a little while, then I was glad I wouldn't have to put up with that eternal night, however pretty it might have been.

The four of us gave our thanks to the captain (well, mostly me, considering I was the only one who'd actually been given _permission_ to sail) and disembarked, coming to a pause just outside the gates of the loading area. Jude was looking around, a thoughtful frown on his face as he took in the sights of the seahaven.

I followed suit and gave the place a once-over. Layout-wise, it was pretty similar to the one back in Fennmont, with the exception of what was clearly an inn nestled into the tall, walled gates of the place. It was certainly lively, with many people crowded around the shop stalls and sitting on benches with their luggage.

"It's hard to believe we're in a whole different country," Jude finally spoke up, looking back at Alvin and I. "It feels just like home."

"This part of Auj Oule is hardly what I'd call exotic," Alvin said casually. "The further into the mainland you go, the more differences you'll probably start to notice."

Jude nodded, and that same, sad look I'd been noticing more and more crossed his face. However, this time he seemed to notice it on himself – he gave his head a shake and looked back across the port, towards a bulletin board.

"Hey, there's a map! Let me check it out for a bit." And with that, he'd rushed off to examine it, if only to give his mind something else to focus on other than his own misfortune.

Alvin shook his head, looking impressed. "Brave kid, the way he plays it cool."

"Decided to make the best of it, has he?" Milla commented. Her pink eyes focused curiously on him. "He's not as immature as he looks."

"Would it kill you to show a little concern?" Alvin said suddenly, and while his voice didn't drop the carefree tone, he _almost_ sounded a bit scolding. "You dragged him into this, right?"

"He insisted on helping me," she said simply. "I told him again and again to go home, but he wouldn't listen." She glanced away from Alvin, back to where Jude stood. "He's here of his own accord."

"That sounds like him," I agreed. "Helping people is his thing – he's a good kid."

Alvin took in our words before laughing and giving his head a shake. "I see. He believes he got himself into this mess, so now he has to put on a brave face."

She didn't reply, instead choosing to join Jude by the map.

"Either way, he's acting like an adult," Alvin continued under his breath.

"I get what you mean," I agreed. "Jude really is pretty mature. More mature than me, anyway."

"That can't be too hard! You're...what, 12? 13?"

I gave him a rough shove, scowling over my shoulder at him as I hurried to join Milla and Jude.

"North of here..." Milla was murmuring, trailing her finger along the map.

"What's up?" asked Alvin once he'd caught up as well. "You leaving now?"

"No..." She turned around to give Alvin a thoughtful look. "Alvin, you must be well-versed with a sword. Mercenaries like you must have some battle chops."

"Well, yeah, of course," he said proudly.

"Could you teach me how to use one?"

"Huh?" He blinked slowly, looking pretty confused. Not that I blamed him – after that impressive show back in Fennmont she'd given, it was hard to believe that someone like her needed sword training.

"I don't have the Four to back me up anymore," she clarified. "If I can't wield a sword, what's left?"

"The Four...?" Alvin trailed off, looking hopelessly between me and Jude. "Not sure I follow, but I'd be more than happy to teach you...if only you had some cash."

I rolled my eyes, pacing away from the group a bit to stare up at the sky. The inn was my first destination. From there, I would try to think up some kind of plan as to what to do next – perhaps write a letter and get it sent to Keegan somehow? Considering in a place like this, a quick text message or phone call was clearly out of the question.

"So you won't help?" Milla asked.

Alvin thought about it for a moment before coming to some kind of decision. "Here, why don't we make some moolah _while_ I train you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jude, finally tearing his eyes away from the map.

"Well..." Alvin gave the seahaven a quick scan. "There's got to be some paying customers here in the seahaven, right? Let's take a look around and see if anyone has any problems that need to be taken care of. You know – gathering things, killing monsters – that sort of thing."

"Sounds good," said Jude, and he looked over at me. "What about you? Are you going to come with us?"

"Sounds a little too dangerous for me," I said hesitantly, having shrunk back at the mention of monsters. Keegan had explained to me that such a thing was a reality here – that taking a walk on a highroad between cities was a lot more dangerous here than it would be back home, but I still didn't plan on coming face to face with a monster unless absolutely necessary. "I'm...not really one for fighting. How about I get us some rooms at the inn, instead? Considering I'm pretty much the only one here who isn't broke."

"That would be very generous of you," said Milla. "Are you sure you don't mind doing that?"

I waved my hand. "My brother gave me more gald than I know what to do with while I was in Fennmont. It'll probably just sit in my bag forever if I don't put it to good use."

"Thanks, Maggie," said Jude, smiling at me. "Maybe when we get back I can teach you a few punches or something in return."

"That would be wise, if you are unable to fight," Milla agreed. "Given your current situation, being able to defend yourself is an important skill to have."

"Sounds great! T-Thanks." I gave both of them a grim smile. No, it certainly did not "sound great". Just the very thought of having to be in a situation where fighting would be necessary made me want to throw up. Still...I could see their point. Being stuck alone and defenceless really hadn't worked out so well for me the last time. Maybe I _should_ learn a few punches...buy a weapon from the merchants, pay Alvin to help me use it – anything to keep what almost happened in Fennmont from happening again.

"Oh, wait, Jude!" I said suddenly before they could walk away. I reached into my bag and handed him one of my coin purses. "Go get yourself whatever you want for supplies. You can just give me the rest back after."

"But–"

"Hey. What did I say?" I shoved his hands away from me and stepped back before he could try and give it back to me. Even when he tried to protest again, I gave him a short wave and turned away to start heading to the inn.

"We'll see you later then!" Alvin called, drowning out Jude's voice completely.

"Yeah, see ya!" I snickered to myself and kept walking.

The inn was, as I'd mentioned before, built into the wall of the seahaven gates. Approaching the door, I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the interior, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that it was actually really nice, and well-lit with lamps and ceiling lights. The lobby contained a long, curving main desk, with a set of couches surrounding a table in one corner and a bar in the other, with tables and chairs lining the wall. The floor was a mix of hardwood and stone, and my boots made a light clicking sound as I approached the front desk.

"Welcome!" the man at the desk said kindly. "What can I do for you today?"

"Hi! Um, let me see...I'm going to need four rooms," I told him. "How much will that be?"

"That'll be 200 gald per room," he replied, and began rummaging beneath the desk, presumably for room keys.

"Perfect." I brought the second coin purse out of my bag and counted out the right amount, and in return he handed me four room keys.

"You'll find your room just down the hall, and then turn left," he told me. He then glanced down at an envelope sitting on the counter in front of him. "Ah, yes, by the way – your name wouldn't happen to be Maggie, would it?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Um...it depends what's in that envelope," I said nervously. Of course, that pretty much had answered his question right there, but he was an innkeeper, right? If I decided to keep up the charade of being "Jill", then who was he to ask questions?

"It's a letter we received this morning," he replied, naturally looking a bit wary at my reaction. "From a Mr. Gamble. It was delivered on the off-chance that you ended up stopping by. Is...that the kind of thing you're interested in?"

"_Yes." _I let out a huge sigh of relief and grabbed the letter from him. It was from Keegan – perfect. "Thank you so much, sir. Um, would I be able to leave three of these keys at the desk? My friends are going to be coming later, and it would just be easier that way."

He nodded. "Yes, of course. Have a nice stay."

I nodded back at him and, adjusting the strap on my bag, headed down the hallway located to the right of the desk. I followed his instructions and was safely inside my room within minutes. The room wasn't nearly as nice as my luxurious accommodations in Fennmont, but it still wasn't bad. There was a double bed with a nightstand, as well as a couple of arm chairs and a table. There was also a small (and when I say small, I mean _small_) bathroom with your regular bathroom stuff – and a shower stall that didn't even look big enough to fit me inside of it.

I sighed heavily and sank into one of the arm chairs. I wasted no time in tearing open the envelope and pulling out Keegan's letter. My eyes blazed through the contents.

_Maggie,_

_ I've written several versions of this letter and sent it to several seahavens in Auj Oule, in hopes that one of them will reach you. News of what happened to you in Fennmont quickly reached me, and while it's unfortunate that it happened, I can't say I'm surprised. As I'd feared, it's clear that Exodus __has some pull with the Rashugal army._

_ I understand that you're probably terrified, now that this plan has fallen through. The most important thing is to stay calm. I have, thankfully, devised a backup plan in case of something like this happening. What you should do now is find a way to make it to Sharilton. While it__'s__ still in Rashugal, I have a lot of business contacts there – enough that you will be much safer there than in Fennmont. The journey will be dangerous alone, so I suggest using some of the gald I've given you and hiring someone to take you there. Being alone at all right now is probably a bad idea – I'm sorry that I ever thought otherwise._

_I would suggest looking into getting yourself a lilium orb, as well. I don't like the idea that you'll have to fight, but at the very least a lilium orb will allow __someone__ even as inexperienced as you to defend yourself if needed. You can usually get one from any weapons or armour merchant._

_ I'll have someone waiting to receive you in Sharilton. Aside from that, your only worry now should be reaching the city itself. As for me, since the plan to throw Exodus off your trail was clearly a failure, I'll continue to look for a spirit fossil to help get you home. If there are any updates, I'll let you know._

_ Keegan._

My first reaction to the letter was to laugh. Leave it to Keegan to write such a dry, formal letter. It was so like him. Still, I was thankful to hear from him, to have some sort of plan formed in my head thanks to him.

"Sharilton..." I dropped the letter on the table in favour of rubbing my temples. Well, at the very least, going to Sharilton would fit with my cover story – it would make sense for me to want to return to my hometown after everything that had happened. And even though it would be going back to Rashugal, I trusted Keegan's judgment – despite the fact that it had been totally awful the first time around.

But now I needed to find someone to take me there. Alvin, maybe? I mean, he _was _a mercenary – that was his job, after all, and I already knew I could trust him. Hiring some random person from the seahaven just didn't really sit right in my stomach. Plus, Alvin was decent company, so I knew I wouldn't want to throw myself off a cliff if I had to go on a long trip with him.

"Okay," I murmured to myself. "So, I'll ask him when he gets back, then."

With that much...well, _kind of _decided, I started digging through my bag to take stock of what I'd managed to haphazardly throw inside. I had one spare dress, which took up the majority of the space in my bag as it was. I hadn't bothered to bring any school books, but I had shoved in a couple of the novels I'd bought in Fennmont. There was a toothbrush, a hairbrush, my coin purse...other than that, nothing. What kind of provisions would a trip to Sharilton require? I would probably need to buy some food or something, right? Some medical supplies, maybe? Whatever. That was something I could sort out with Alvin. He had experience with this kind of stuff.

Speaking of "experience", that reminded me of Keegan's comment about the lilium orb. Jude had sort of briefly explained his to me one time – it was basically something that, when you wore it, it...brought out your inner potential, or something like that. It basically made you stronger. Definitely something I was probably going to need if I was going to survive in a world like this.

I glanced out the window. It was a little hard to tell with the rose-tinted sky, but I knew I still had plenty of time to kill before Jude and the others got back from doing whatever it was they were doing. I grabbed my bag off the table, making sure I also took the room key with me (because, let's face it – getting locked out of my room would totally be something I would do). Hopefully I'd be able to go find a lilium orb, and not almost get arrested in the process.

* * *

So, that's what I was up to a little while later. I'd wandered over to the merchants and had ended up finding an accessory-dealer who had a few lilium orbs for sale. The orb itself was was set into a silver ring, and when I twisted it, the translucent, shimmering image of a spider's web projected from orb.

"The more you use the orb, the more of your inner potential it can unlock," the shopkeeper explained to me. "Developing the orb, in turn, helps to make you grow stronger."

I listened to his words, transfixed on the beautiful image of the web. I couldn't imagine something like a tiny ring making me feel stronger. Still, as soon as I slipped it onto my finger and began playing around with it, I felt some kind of change...it wasn't really something I could explain. More of a bounce in my step, a bit more energy – then again, I also could have been totally imagining it. Either way, I thanked the guy for his help, paid him, and then wandered down closer to the water.

I plopped myself down on a bench and gazed out over the ocean. The sun sparkled off of its surface, and the sight of it reminded me of home. In my hometown, there was a huge, wide river that cut through the middle of it. It was hard to go anywhere and not be able to see it. Sitting here, focusing on nothing but the water, it was easy to imagine I was just sitting at the waterfront back home, watching the sunset. Never mind the fact that the horizon was seemingly endless. Never mind the fact that I couldn't see the huge bridge connecting the two sides, or the bright lights of the mall, the fast food restaurants, the movie theatre. Ocean, or river – it didn't really matter. I breathed in the sea air and let it soothe me. I pretended things were fine. I pretended I was home.

I sat like that for quite a while, absently fiddling with the new ring on my finger. Every so often, I would turn around to check if Jude and the others were back yet. My stomach growled periodically; I was getting pretty hungry, and it was probably getting pretty close to dinner time. Still, the polite thing to do would be to wait until the others got here. Or maybe I could order something now so that it would be ready by the time they got back?

Either way, I didn't have a chance to make a decision, because I glanced over my shoulder and was able to see that the trio had just arrived, and were now speaking to a girl standing by one of the tall columns. Jude and I caught gazes, and I smiled and waved at him. As soon as they were finished, the three of them headed over to see me.

"You're back!" I said happily. "How did things go?"

"Not bad," Jude replied. "Even with everything that's happened, Milla's a fast learner. We got paid pretty well, too." That being said, his eyes lit up as he remembered something and his hands rooted around in his pockets before pulling out my coin purse. "Here's your money back. Thanks, again."

"You're welcome! I got us some rooms at the inn, by the...way..." I trailed off slightly as my attention was drawn to Milla. She stood a little behind Alvin and Jude, and she seemed to be swaying slightly. "Um..."

She fell right over, pretty much face-planting on the ground.

Jude and Alvin both jumped in surprise, and I hopped off of the bench to hurry over to her. I crouched down beside her and placed a gentle hand on her back.

"Milla, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

Jude crouched down as well, slowly turning her head to the side to press the back of his hand against her forehead. "Hmm, no fever. How are you feeling?"

"I don't seem to have any strength," she said, her voice shaky and weak. Then, as if on cue, a loud, angry growl erupted from her belly.

The look of concern on Jude's face dimmed significantly after that. "Um, have you been eating properly?"

"I've never eaten."

My eyes widened. Wait, what? She couldn't have been serious, could she?

"Ever?" said Jude in disbelief.

"Through Sylph, I drew life from the air," she explained simply. "With Undine's power, I received sustenance from the water."

I guess what she said kind of made sense. If what Jude said about her being some kind of all-powerful "Lord of Spirits" was true, then wouldn't that mean she was technically a spirit herself? Spirits wouldn't really need to eat food, would they? Didn't they eat mana or something?

"What's she talking about?" asked Alvin. He crossed his arms and gave Jude a nudge in the back with his knee.

"I guess the spirits gave her all the energy she needed," said Jude. As if that was supposed to answer Alvin's question. He looked back down at Milla and started to lift her into a sitting position. I did my best to help. "Well, now you're going to have to nourish yourself the old-fashioned way."

"I see," she said, and to my surprise her lips pulled into a smile. "So this is what you call hunger." Then, she actually _laughed_, which threw me for an even bigger loop. "Fascinating."

Once I was sure Jude and Alvin wouldn't have a problem hoisting Milla to her feet on their own, I stood and stretched my arms out.

"Let's head back to the inn, then. I got rooms for each of you, and we should be able to order some food, right?" I smiled at Milla, who was currently being kept in balance by Jude and Alvin. "I'm pretty hungry too, but I mean, probably not 'never eaten a meal in my life' hungry."

"Now that you mention it, I could use some grub myself," said Alvin. He stepped away from Milla and gave her a once-over. "You think you can make it to the inn?"

"That shouldn't pose a problem," said Milla. She stepped away from Jude to test her balance, and while her face was particularly white and she still was still swaying all over the place, she nodded and began leading the way to the inn.

"Welcome back!" The innkeeper greeted me with a smile as we approached the desk. "I see you've reunited with your companions. Would you like those room keys now?"

"Yes please," I said with a polite nod. "Um, would it also be possible to get something to eat, please?"

"Oh, my apologies, but our cook isn't in yet," the innkeeper replied with a frown. I noticed him lean around me to look over my shoulder with a worried look. Naturally, he was looking at Milla, who continued to sway back and forth and was barely standing on her feet. She let out a frustrated sigh and hung her head. "Uh...hey, is she okay?"

"Can we at least use your kitchen?" Jude asked desperately.

The innkeeper took one more look at Milla and nodded hastily. "Yes, please do. Your friend here looks like she's about to pass out."

"My stomach," said Milla, and she didn't sound bothered at all, but rather brimming with curiosity. "It really is growling. And here I thought that was just a silly human expression."

While Milla laughed to herself, Alvin shook his head in disbelief. "I can't tell if that's just her personality, or if the hunger is making her delusional."

"You guys wait here," said Jude. "I'll go make us something to eat." He followed the innkeeper down a nearby hall to find the kitchen, leaving Alvin, Milla and I to hang around and wait.

"Let's get you sitting down before you fall over again, hm?" I took Milla's arm and led her over to one of the tables in the corner. I helped her slide into the bench and then scooched in beside her. Alvin sat on the other side, letting out a sigh as he leaned back.

"I see you got yourself a lilium orb," he commented, his eyes honing in on the ring on my hand.

"Oh, yeah." I started fiddling with it once again, allowing the web to bloom to life in front of my eyes. "I figured after everything that happened, it would be smart, you know?"

"I definitely have learned the advantages of having one since starting my journey," Milla mused, admiring her own. "After losing the power to control the Four, it has helped considerably in furthering my abilities."

"What about you?" Alvin asked, nudging my foot under the table. "I know Jude promised to teach you to throw a punch, but how about I show you a few moves with a sword? Put that new baby to work, huh?"

"Uh..." My eyes trailed down to Alvin's sword, and the very thought of having to fend that off caused me to sweat. What if he accidentally impaled me or something? Could I even lift a sword? I had basically no muscle whatsoever – it was probably a lost cause.

"Jude's probably going to take a while," he insisted, hopping to his feet. He walked around to my side of the table and held his hand out. "C'mon – we'll get some cheap wooden swords from the market so that you won't hurt yourself. Just to get the motion down."

I gulped, and then looked at Milla from the corner of my eye, hoping that maybe she would speak up with some kind of wise advice like "Teaching someone with no experience in fighting to wield a sword is probably ill-advised. She is likely to only injure herself and others."

Unfortunately, all she was thinking about at the moment was probably how hungry she was, so all she said was, "That sounds like a good idea. I shall wait here for Jude to finish cooking."

_Dammit, Milla. Aren't __us__ girls supposed to stick together? Can't you sense how much I totally do _not _want to do this?!_

I sighed heavily and took Alvin's hand. "Fine. I guess a few lessons couldn't hurt."

"Perfect!" he said with a grin, and yanked me to my feet. "Then let's go work up a good appetite, shall we?"

I muttered under my breath while Alvin cheerfully bid goodbye to Milla. We headed over to the merchants, where Alvin was able to cheaply procure a couple of practice swords that, while not wooden, had rounded edges specifically for practicing. I wasn't really an expert on swords, but it looked to just be a simple sword – not too long in length, and one I would probably be expected to hold in one hand. I'd held replica swords before in my life, and while I'm sure the weight couldn't be compared to a real sword, they were still heavy enough.

So, when Alvin handed me the sword, I wasn't too surprised when the weight of it dragged my body down a bit, and I had to struggle to steadily hold it up in my right hand.

"Heh, you really are a little weakling, aren't you, squirt?" Alvin said teasingly. He'd abandoned his actual sword in favour of the practice one, but even that one seemed to rest naturally in his hand.

"You don't have to say it like that," I said with a scowl. "Even if it _is _true. And don't call me 'squirt'."

He raised his free hand in a sign of surrender. "Sorry! I'll try not to do it again. Now then, why don't you start off with just a simple stance. Just try to hold the sword up properly."

"Uh..." I shifted my grip around the handle, doing my best to keep the muscles in my arm tight enough to keep it steady. I tried to straighten my posture, spreading my feet apart slightly to help me keep more balance. Really, I was just trying to copy anything that I would have seen in a movie, so who knew how well it was actually working.

Alvin circled around me, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Hm...well, it's a start. Try spreading your feet a bit more – and keep your shoulders a bit more square." He used his free hand to guide me, using the flat of his sword to press against my back and fix my posture. "Balance is pretty important – wouldn't wanna fall down and scratch up that pretty face of yours."

As he spoke, I could already feel my arm beginning to shake with the weight of the sword. I bit down on my lip, using the pain to distract me from the growing ache in my upper arm.

"It'll take a while to get used to," he said, letting out an obvious laugh at my discomfort. "The lilium orb should help you build up muscle a bit faster, though."

I _did _notice that, while putting strain on my arm, the sword was not nearly as heavy as I imagined it was supposed to be. I'd been holding it steadily a lot longer than I'd expected of myself, so the lilium orb was the only explanation I could really think of.

Alvin paced around me once more before coming to a stop in front of me. "Alright, now try a couple of swings."

"Um...okay..." I did as he said – I tried a couple of short swings, to the best of my ability. As soon as I added movement to my already-shaky grip, the sword wobbled horribly, resulting in some of the most pathetic swings either of us had probably ever seen. "Ugh, shit. I suck at this, don't I?"

"It's your first time, kid. Obviously you aren't going to immediately be a master at it."

"I don't think I like 'kid' much, either," I muttered under my breath, but the sound of it went unheard as Alvin commanded me to try again.

* * *

Our little training session lasted about half an hour before Jude stuck his head out the door to call us inside for supper. My muscles screamed their thanks to him, and I had to resist the urge to drag the sword along the ground as we made our way to the door.

I pretty much collapsed into my chair inside. Four steaming bowls of what looked to be some kind of stew sat on the table in front of us, and I saw that Milla was already eagerly digging into hers.

Well, I guess there was no point in waiting; I followed her example and took a huge bite of mine, not even caring that it was still extremely hot and pretty much burning my mouth. I was too hungry to care at that point.

"Hey, not bad," Alvin said, looking more than impressed as he took his first bite.

"'Not bad'?" Milla repeated in awe, hardly audible with her mouth as full as it was. "It's good!" She swallowed a large mouthful and then gave us all a surprisingly warm smile. "I quite enjoy ingesting calories with you. Humans should learn to cherish these simple pleasures."

"Oh, trust me, I do," I said with a laugh. Her amazement at food was hilarious, but I really couldn't blame her – there really was nothing like filling your belly with an amazing meal when you were super hungry. To think that she'd never had the chance to experience such a thing – it was sad, really. I felt pretty bad for her.

"How did training go, by the way?" Jude asked. He was given pretty much an immediate answer when Alvin's lips pulled into a shit-eating grin pointed in my general direction, and I let out a heavy groan.

"Terrible," I said shortly, giving a large chunk of potato a moody stab. Huh, maybe I could just use a fork to stab enemies to death.

"Hey, now, give yourself more credit!" His tone was just oozing sass. "You did about as well as to be expected of a beginner."

I rolled my eyes in Alvin's general direction. "That's funny. You sound about as sincere as to be expected of someone like you."

Milla glanced between the two of us, frowning. "So, I take it the lessons will not continue?"

"Oh, they're going to continue," I told her, although it was very reluctantly. "As shitty as it is, I know that it's necessary. And this lilium orb should help me a bit. I'm going to have to just put up with it."

She nodded deeply. "I empathize with your resolve. If we always gave up after the first try, then nothing would ever be accomplished. Perseverance is necessary to complete our goals. I wish you well in your learning."

"Thanks, Milla," I said in surprise, my lips giving way to a smile. She sure did have a way with words.

Aside from that, there wasn't much else conversation as everyone gladly finished up their meals. Before arriving in Rieze Maxia, I was what you'd consider a picky eater, without a doubt. But since arriving here, I'd come to be a lot more adventurous with my food choices, so I ended up cleaning my bowl – even eating the vegetables I would have normally pushed to the side.

It didn't take long after finishing our meal for Milla's head to hit the table, a light snore coming from her throat as she experienced what was probably her first food coma. I absently played with my fork while we all watched her in amusement. It was funny, really – while my first impression of her as a cold, serious, mysterious beauty wasn't too far off the mark, she definitely had her quirks as well, which I was quickly finding out. Seeing her do stuff like this made her a lot more approachable, in my opinion,

"This might be her first time sleeping, too," Jude remarked drily.

"And apparently she never ate before today, either," said Alvin, looking, as always, lost as to what was going on with her. "Who in the world is she?"

"She claims she's Maxwell," Jude said quietly, his amber eyes falling on Milla's still form.

Alvin's mouth fell open and he gave him an incredulous look. "_That _Maxwell?"

"Yeah. She's apparently a spirit in physical form."

"Not just any spirit." Alvin took on a lordly, wise tone. "The Lord of Spirits, Wielder of the Four Elements, the Eldest Spirit...Maxwell has many names." He gave his head a shake, his wide eyes flitting from Jude, to me, and finally, to Milla. "And now we add Milla to that list? She's supposed to be the Spirit Maxwell? You gotta be kidding me."

"Is Maxwell really that mighty?" Jude asked in wonder.

"Of course. That's why this is so hard to swallow." He gave his head another shake and gazed at Milla, this strange woman who'd just passed out after inhaling her food. "I grew up hearing bedtime stories about Maxwell."

"And now 'Maxwell' is snoring on the table beside you." My voice held a sort of dim amazement to it. I definitely understood his disbelief. In my mind, I tried to compare the situation to something back home. I guess it would be sort of like someone claiming that they were God in physical form? I mean, if somebody tried to tell me that, I would just write them off as crazy. Putting that into perspective, I gained a new clarity on just how crazy this situation was. Except that it was real, because Jude had witnessed the proof – her summoning of "the Four", back in Fennmont.

"What in the world would a spirit like that be trying to destroy?" Jude murmured to himself. Despite telling me himself how amazing Milla supposedly was, I don't think he'd actually quite realized just how important of a person...er, spirit, she really was, and now he was just kind of staring off into space, lost in a daze.

"Trying to destroy?" Alvin gave him a curious look. "What're you referring to?"

Jude looked up at him in surprise, as though unaware he'd been speaking out loud. "She called it a spyrix, I think. The device from the laboratory."

"Hmm..." Alvin looked away, seeming to be deep in thought over the matter. I doubted he had any clue what Jude was talking about though, as he failed to provide any sort of insight.

"Maybe I should just ask Milla about it..."

"I don't know," said Alvin, snapping back to reality. "You have a nasty habit of poking your nose where it doesn't belong. Your accursed curiosity made me a wanted man, too, you know."

"I think your love for money did that," I added helpfully, while Jude heaved a heavy sigh. "You're acting like Jude dragged you into it."

"Details, details," Alvin said dismissively. "My point is, think hard before asking, okay?"

Jude smiled at him regardless, doing his best to make it genuine. "Yeah, you're right."

"I usually am," he shot back with a smirk. He stifled a yawn before glancing out the window. "Well, it's getting late enough. Guess we should try to get the sleeping beauty back to her room, huh?"

"I'll take care of it," Jude offered, as I'd suspected he would. He was quick to leave his seat and hoist Milla to her feet, slinging her arm around his shoulders so that he could bring her to her room without waking her. He nodded his head at us and whispered, "I'll catch up with you guys in a little bit."

I watched him go with a barely-hidden smile on my face. I wasn't sure how I hadn't noticed it before, but now it was perfectly clear – poor Jude had a _huge _crush on Milla. In fact, I wasn't sure what was cuter – the fact that he had a crush on her, or the fact that he actually thought he was doing a good job of hiding it.

"Poor kid has it bad," Alvin said with a sigh.

"Oh my God, I know," I said, shaking my head and trying not to laugh too loudly. I started gathering up the empty bowls to bring them back to the kitchen to be washed. "Don't you dare tease him about it, though. I swear, I'll hurt you." I pointed a fork in his direction for good measure.

"You're not even a little bit scary," he said matter-of-factly, reaching across the table to pluck the fork out of my hand. "And while we're chatting, what's up with the weird slang you keep using?"

"Weird...?" I trailed off, frantically combing back through what I'd said. What was so weird? And then my stomach did a tiny flip because I realized he was probably talking about me saying "oh my God". That was pretty much one of the most common sayings in the English language back home, but here? Was there even a "God" in Rieze Maxia? Or did they all just sort of worship Maxwell? Either way, I'd definitely fucked up somehow, so I quickly tried to backpedal. "Oh, um, that. Yeah, that's just something some of my friends back home used to say all of the time. I guess it must have rubbed off on me."

He said nothing; he simply raised an eyebrow at me, clearly skeptical.

"A-Anyway." I cleared my throat and focused my eyes on the bowls I was stacking. "I actually had something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Oh?" His curiosity was piqued enough that he decided to momentarily drop the subject. "And what might that be?"

"Well, I was wondering what your plans were...I mean, now that we're all in Auj Oule."

He shrugged. "Beats me, kid. I'll go wherever the wind takes me...and wherever there's a profit to be made, of course. Why do you ask?"

"I actually have a proposal." I had to clear my throat then, because, for some reason, I was getting really nervous and flustered, which usually resulted in a string of gibberish spilling from my mouth. "I wanted to return to my hometown...to Sharilton. But, since I can't really protect myself or anything, I was thinking of maybe...well, uh, hiring your...services?"

"You want me to escort you to Sharilton?"

"Uh, yeah." I stared avidly at a particular pattern in the grain of the table. "If you don't mind. I can pay you and all, so it's really just depends if you want to or not."

He thought about it a moment before scratching the back of his head and shrugging. "Sure, I don't see why not!"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Really?"

"Yep!" He walked around the side of the table until he was standing next to me. He held his hand out. "Sounds like an easy job, and I know you're good to pay me. Should be fun! I'll get you there, one way or another."

"Great." I smiled and shook his hand happily. "Then, I guess we'll wait and see what Jude and Milla are planning before leaving...tomorrow?"

He nodded. "That's probably for the best. I'm sure Milla can handle herself on her own, but Jude..."

I didn't bother filling the silence. We both knew how that sentence was going to end. It wasn't that I didn't think Jude was mature enough to handle himself, but after everything he had just gone through, I was definitely worried. He was only 15 years old. When I was that age, I was just getting my braces off and still going through my vampire phase. My biggest concern was finding a boyfriend now that my teeth were free from their metal prison. This whole thing had to be hard on him. I wasn't sure how much I could help, but I definitely didn't want to take off for Sharilton without knowing he was safe.

"But, hey," Alvin said suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Are you sure you wanna be going back to Rashugal right now? I mean, it wasn't exactly smooth sailing for you in Fennmont, now was it?"

"I have to," I insisted, even though I knew he was right. "There's no where else for me to go. And it's my home."

He didn't say anything right away, and I had to wonder if it was because he could tell that last part was a huge lie. To me, it sounded like I was dreading "returning home", like it was the last place in the world I wanted to go. Maybe it was. Being in Auj Oule held a lot more potential for being safe than being in Rashugal did, especially if it meant being as far away as possible from that bastard, Elias.

"Whatever you say," he said at last. "As long as you know what you're doing."

"Yeah." I sighed heavily and gathered up the remainder of the dishes, giving Alvin a small nod before heading off to the kitchen.

* * *

**This ends super abruptly, but I honestly had to stop it somewhere or it would have went on forever haha**

**The game never really gives us a description as to what a lilium orb looks like, as far as I can remember, so I decided to just kind of make my own version of it up**

**Also, sword training will be the death of me - OC Maggie and I have that in common for sure (I mean we have everything in common, we're the same person, but shhh)**

**Such a long chapter and we're _still_ at the seahaven. Next chapter, we'll get things moving! So long until then!**


	5. On The Move

**Hi friends! Sorry for the huge gap between updates (well, huge compared to the last one, still not bad for me). I got hooked on Once Upon a Time and then started university, so that's pretty much been my life.**

**First off, I wanted to thank some not-signed in people for reviews! King Keith, thank you so much! I'm a huge fan of New Reality, so I'm glad this is at least holding up in comparison! Also "Guest", thank you for your review as well! And everyone in general who's been reading/fave-ing and all that jazz :)**

**This took so long because I got stuck at the beginning. Once I finally hit my stride I was able to churn out the rest! Thanks for being patient with me.**

**Anyway, enjoy! I'll probably end up reading back through it later to fix any mistakes I may have missed, but for now I just wanted to get this out to you guys!**

* * *

I woke up early the next morning. The sun was only just rising, slowly filling my room with a soft, pink haze. I wasn't sure what had roused me awake – maybe a nightmare, or some kind of loud noise. Either way, I lay there with my eyes glued to the ceiling, and they made no move of closing. Sighing in annoyance, I threw the covers off and rolled out of bed.

I barely bothered smoothing my hair down before heading out to the lobby, tossing my key between my hands. Of course, now that I had actually decided to get out of bed, my eyes were growing heavy once again, and my body was wracked with yawn after yawn. I clapped a hand across my mouth as I approached Milla, the only other person who was apparently crazy enough to be awake at such an hour.

"Hey," I said sleepily, joining her at her spot at our table from last night. She looked like she'd just finished a three course meal with the amount of empty plates spread out in front of her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Sleep is very refreshing," she replied with a nod. "I can see why you humans would enjoy partaking in such an activity. Why is it that you are awake?"

"I wish I knew." I sighed heavily. "It's definitely not like me to be an early riser."

"I have been awake for some time as well." Her eyes flitted to the window. She seemed to be thinking deeply about something. "I've been thinking over what my plans will be, now. Perhaps you have the same problem."

"I'm going to Sharilton. It's where I'm from. Alvin's gonna take me there."

"I see." A long pause. "That's not a bad idea. I was thinking of doing the same."

"Oh, really? Where are you from?" I felt the need to speak carefully, for whatever reason. It wasn't like Milla was the cold, mysterious stranger I'd originally made her out to be, but it still wasn't far off the mark. The fact that I could potentially learn more about her was exciting.

"Nia Khera. It's a village north of here. My shrine is located there. If I return, perhaps I could successfully summon the Four once again."

My eyes widened, a smile forming on my face. "Oh, wow! I hope that works out for you. Is Nia Khera a nice place?"

"I suppose you could say that," she said, and I wondered if she was aware of the fond smile that crept across her lips. "Although, it would depend on your definition of 'nice'. I will say, the people are nice, and the air is very clean. It's quite peaceful." She gave me a curious look. "I haven't been to Sharilton. Do you enjoy it?"

"...Yeah." Had that been too long of a pause? I still wasn't entirely able to discern just how perceptive Milla was. Could she notice that my eyes had kind of gone out of focus? Was my voice super weird and warped? I grabbed on to the feeling of my real home, and held it close to my heart while I tried to elaborate. "I mean, I grew up there. I have so many memories of there, and...I just really miss it."

"Morning, ladies!"

I dug my nail into to arm to keep from sighing in relief. And there was Alvin, saving me from an awkward situation (which was funny, really, since he was often the one causing them).

"Good morning, Alvin," Milla greeted him with a nod. I yawned and gave him a short wave. Then, I took one look at his stylishly messy bedhead and tried to discreetly reach up and comb my fingers through my own hair.

He took a seat next to Milla. "So, what's all the gossip this morning, ladies?"

"Discussing plans," said Milla.

"And cute boys, naturally," I chimed in.

He leaned across the table and smirked. "Is that so? In that case, I imagine my name has popped up, right?"

"Nope!"

His smirk fell.

"I believe she is joking," said Milla, in that almost obliviously-serious tone of hers. "We did not speak of you, other than to discuss your plans to make for Sharilton."

"Ah, speaking of which – what now?" He reached across the table to pluck a piece of fruit from the bowl in the middle. "What does the great Lord Maxwell plan to do next?"

"Good morning!" That was Jude, walking over to the table and having a seat next to me. He looked surprisingly chipper for a 15 year-old boy awake this early in the morning.

"Good day, Jude," said Milla. "I was just about to share my plans with Alvin. Perhaps you would be interested?"

The morning cheer melted from his face a little. A good night's sleep had probably pushed most thoughts of his current predicament from his brain, but now that there were talks of the future, his worries were clearly back.

"What is it?"

"I'm thinking of returning to Nia Khera."

"Is that your hometown?" he asked.

"More accurately, it's where my shrine is," she replied. When Jude's mouth fell open in a sort of daze (most likely because mentioning a "shrine" really did sort of put emphasis on the fact that she was some sort of spirit lord), she continued, "If I go back, I might be able to re-summon the Four."

"So, she really is Maxwell," Alvin muttered to himself.

"This is where you come in, Jude. Will you accompany me to Nia Khera?"

"W-What?" His eyebrows shot up in surprise, now hidden by the mess of black bangs hanging across his forehead.

"It's true that you brought your current situation upon yourself, but I bear some of the blame as well." Her expression was about as close to feeling guilty as I imagined it could get, which still wasn't very guilty. "I'll put in a good word for you with the people of Nia Khera. I'm sure they'll look after you."

Alvin let out a surprised laugh. "Wow, you've put a lot of thought into this."

"Yes," she said, and nodded resolutely. "Remember when you told me that I seemed unconcerned? I decided to take that to heart."

Jude looked unsure of what to say. He was staring at Milla with wide eyes, his lips moving to form silent words until he finally managed to get out, "M-Milla...you don't need to practice your swordplay anymore?"

"No need to concern yourself with my martial abilities," she said confidently.

"Well, if nothing else, you know how to swing the pointy end," Alvin added helpfully.

"Okay," said Jude after another long pause, and this time he sounded more sure of himself. "I'll come with you.

Milla seemed pleased with his answer. "Good. You needn't worry."

"I'm glad," I said with a relieved sigh. "I was really worried about what you were gonna do, you know." And then I resisted the urge to ruffle his hair and call him "kid", because he was 15, not 10. Plus, I wasn't Alvin.

"Wait, what about you?" Once again, cue the trademark "Jude Mathis worrywart face". "What are your plans now?"

"Alvin's going to take me to Sharilton," I replied. "I got a letter from my brother yesterday – he says I'll be safe there."

"You're going back to Rashugal?" He didn't look too thrilled at the thought. "That's...are you sure that's a good idea?"

I shrugged, letting out a heavy breath. "Nope. But that's my only action plan right now. My brother's never let me down before." _Except for when he told me I'd be safe in Fennmont, _a dry voice in my head reminded me.

He didn't look convinced, but he still nodded. "Okay. If that's what you want to do, I won't stop you."

"As if you even could!" Alvin said jovially. He reached across to lightly punch my arm. "This girl's a natural-born swords-woman. She'd kick your ass!"

"I'm gonna kick _your _ass if you don't quit it!" I tried to slap his hand away, but he was too quick for me.

Jude laughed nervously. "Looks like the two of you are going to have quite the journey."

"_You've got that right, Jude._ I stifled a yawn. I already wanted to go back to bed and I'd only been awake for half an hour. Something told me this was going to be a _long _day.

* * *

"Well, I guess this is goodbye."

The four of us stood at the gates to the city. I'd let the words slip from my lips in an effort to relieve the suddenly awkward silence. I wasn't sure why the silence was awkward, or why there was even a silence at all – all we were doing was seeing Milla and Jude off. Our ship didn't leave for another couple of hours, so we planned on waiting around the seahaven until it was time to leave. I just had this inexplicable feeling deep in my gut, as if something bad was going to happen. I knew Jude would be safe in Nia Khera, and that I was just being paranoid for no reason, but I just couldn't shake it.

"Hey, don't look so sad," Jude said with a small smile. "It's not like we won't ever see each other again. I'll probably be able to come back to Rashugal after everything's sorted out, and then I'll come visit you in Sharilton!"

I tried to return the smile. "Yeah, you're right. Heh, sorry." Still, I reached out and gave him a hug, and I held on long enough that it was probably weird but I didn't really care. If things went well, and Keegan found a spirit fossil like he was supposed to, then this very well could have been our final goodbye.

"Stay safe on the road," said Alvin.

"You have my gratitude for assisting me in my training," Milla said with a short nod. She turned to me and offered a polite smile. "I wish you well on your travels."

"Thanks, Milla," I said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Jude glanced at her, and they shared a look of understanding. We offered each other a few final goodbyes and then they started down the road.

Alvin shoved his foot into the back of my knee, causing my leg to give out momentarily. I whirled around to smack him, narrowly avoiding him as he hopped out of the way.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Quit acting so forlorn," he said casually. "You look like you're sending that kid off to his death."

"I could be," I muttered irritably, but I left it at that. There was no way Alvin would understand how I felt right now, and it wasn't really like I could just tell him, so I simply sighed quietly and started wandering over to the shops.

"Maybe you should get yourself a real sword, moneybags." Alvin had come to stand behind me, thoughtfully examining the wares of the weapon merchant over my shoulder. "That practice sword might deal a nice blow to the head, but it probably won't be much help in a real fight."

"I don't plan on being in a 'real fight'..."

"I don't think many people 'plan' on it, kid." He reached around me to point to a sword hanging on the shelf, one that was very similar in size and shape to my practice sword. It had a pretty little flower design on the handle, as well as on the sheath. Alvin grabbed it off the shelf and unsheathed it to demonstrate – the blade was sharp. Awesome.

"This is a very bad idea," I told him. My eyes refused to leave the blade's sharp point. "I'm probably gonna end up dropping it and stabbing myself in the foot or something."

"You're being dramatic, just give him the money."

I groaned, digging through my bag to find the money. I counted out the correct amount and reluctantly handed it over to the merchant.

"You'll thank me for it later," said Alvin. "You know, when you're face to face with a wild monster and actually have something to fight back with."

"I thought that's what I was paying _you _for," I mumbled. I took the sword from Alvin and attached it to my belt, on the opposite side of my training one. The added weight felt awkward, but at least it wasn't putting strain on my shoulders or back.

I headed over to the dock to stare at the ocean – you know, stereotypical moody teenager stuff. A ship was slowly making its way to shore, and I focused deeply on the rippling waves it formed in the water. In my mind, I started to make a list of everything I was going to have to do before I got to Sharilton. If I still had my phone, then I would have opened up the notepad and made an _actual _check list, but for now, a mental one would have to do.

1. Long, relaxing, but probably also very boring boat ride. Meh.

2. Probably stay at the seahaven for the night and stock up on some supplies.

3. The actual walking part of getting to Sharilton, which would be super awesome with the long distance and having to deal with monsters lunging at us from the bushes or something. Remind me why no one had invented cars here?

4. Get to Sharilton – alive, preferably.

5. ?

I sighed, running a hand through my hair to keep the sea breeze from blowing it in my face. I was trying not to think about the actual destination, and more about the millions of problems I was going to have to face getting there. Still, the actual destination was _probably _something I should have been worrying about, considering the fact that I had no clue what I was going to be walking into. Keegan had assured me it was safe, and while I believed him and everything, it was just a little bit nerve-wracking to be heading into the situation blind. How was I supposed to know where to go? Why did he have to be so goddamn cryptic?

I stood there for a little while longer, watching the ship finally make its way to the dock and make preparations for people to disembark. Eventually, I lost interest and decided to head back to the inn to grab something to eat. We still had a few hours, so maybe I would take a nap in the lobby or something like that.

After grabbing a ham and cheese sandwich from the food counter in the inn lobby, I walked back outside, scanning the area to see where Alvin had gone. It didn't really surprise me that he was nowhere to be found. I decided to give up on it, and sat on a bench close to the water to eat my sandwich in peace.

I hadn't even remembered stretching out across the bench and falling asleep until I felt someone urgently rousing me awake. I jolted upwards, squinting up at Alvin in annoyance.

"What?!" I exclaimed irritably. "What is it?"

"We have a problem."

My annoyance faded to make way for alarm. "What kind of problem?"

He pointed towards the docks, where a congregation of what appeared to be soldiers were gathered. Shit. Shit, shit, _shit._

"We have to hide!" I hissed, jumping up from the bench. Stray bread crumbs fell from my clothes to the ground.

"Whoa, not so fast!" He grabbed my arm, pulling me aside to hide behind a tall stack of crates anyway. He crouched, peering out from around the corner of the crates. "That's not all of it."

There was a bad taste in my mouth. I felt like I was going to vomit. "Seriously? There's more?"

"You're not the only one they're looking for, kid." As if to emphasize his point, he glanced over his shoulder towards the gates. "We just said goodbye to a couple of fugitives a couple of hours ago."

_Shit. _Milla and Jude. They were headed towards Nia Khera, and they had no idea that a group of Rashugal soldiers were right on their tails. They were going to be ambushed!

"I'm sure Milla can handle a couple of soldiers," said Alvin. He ducked back into our hiding spot and turned to face me. "We should find a place to lay low until the soldiers leave the seahaven and then get the quickest boat out of here."

"But..." I frowned. But what? Why was I trying to argue that? It made the most sense – it was the safest option. "But what about Jude?"

Alvin raised an eyebrow. "What about him? He's pretty tough, plus he has Milla looking out for him."

"They can't fight off an entire army by themselves, Alvin!" I felt dangerously close to tears. How could I just run away to Sharilton and let Jude and Milla get captured without even trying to warn them?

"It isn't an entire army," he said patiently. "Besides, what's your brilliant plan? Run after them?"

I didn't say anything. That was exactly what I wanted to do, but it was pretty much the dumbest thing I _could _of done. _Stay out of it_, I wanted to tell myself. _All that matters is getting home. All of these people will be nothing more than part of a bad dream once you're home. None of this will matter. None of it._

"I want to," I admitted quietly. "It's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Doesn't mean you have to."

I groaned, almost loud enough to warrant concern that we would be heard. I fiddled with the strap on my bag for a moment before mumbling, "I'll pay you extra if you take me."

He cursed under his breath, softly, without any real anger under it. He stood from his crouched position and adjusted his scarf.

"They'll probably try to stop in Hamil for the night," he said finally. "If we're quick, we should be able to catch up with them there."

I gave him a broad smile. "_Thank you, _Alvin."

* * *

After discreetly slipping out the gates while we had the chance, Alvin and I were now walking along the highroad. The road was lined with trees and high rock walls. There was a bare, worn path of dirt that snaked through the grass and offered some semblance of guidance, but other than that, it really wasn't much of a road. I mean, there were no cars here, so what use was there for paving roads?

As we walked, I continued to glance over my shoulder at the gates to seahaven, which were slowly getting further and further away. My hand was permanently poised upon the handle of my sword, ready to wildly swing it any monsters that tried to make me their lunch.

"You need to calm down," Alvin said casually. He, meanwhile, was walking with outstretched arms, his hands clasped behind his head. "The monsters usually won't bother you if you stay on the road."

"Usually," I muttered. My grip tightened. I could see movement in the distance, off the roads. I refused to focus on that. I didn't want to see a monster. I didn't. If I didn't see one, I could pretend they weren't real.

"You're just going to tire yourself out if you keep being all tense like that," he went on. "Seriously, we're probably gonna have to walk well into the night if we wanna catch them while they're camped out for the night."

Reluctantly, I let my hand fall to my side. Stupid Alvin. He was probably right.

...at least, these were my thoughts _before _Iheard the weird, high-pitched "_gabbit!" _and was pushed out of the way so Alvin could swiftly swing his sword at the beast right behind me. It jumped back, and in the brief pause afterwards I was able to fully take in its appearance. It was a tall, ugly thing, with long, knobby fingers and a long spiky club for a tail. Upon hearing its battle cry, several others had gathered around us, leaving us in the middle of a nice, old-fashioned monster circle.

I'll admit it. I was not brave in that moment. I latched on to Alvin's arm and let out the girly-est scream imaginable. Naturally, that got the monsters all worked up and I could see their large tails swish back and forth menacingly.

"Cut it out," Alvin said sharply, giving his arm a shake. "You have that sword for a reason. It's time to put it to good use."

"I can't!" My voice immediately cracked. I was on the verge of sobbing. "Alvin, I really can't!"

One of them lunged at Alvin from behind. He whirled around to fend it off, just as another lunged at me. I dove out of the way, wiping out and scraping my hands against the dirt. When I managed to scramble to my feet, another swung its tail at me and I barely avoided getting hit.

I threw a glance over my shoulder. Alvin was busy fighting off his own attackers. He didn't have time to protect me. My heart pounded painfully against my chest as, with shaking fingers, I drew my sword.

The monster in front of me tensed, sensing the new threat. "_Gabbit!"_

"No!" As the monster pounced, I squeezed my eyes shut and looked away, holding my sword out in front of me and swinging wildly. I felt it slice cleanly though flesh and fur, heard the monster let out a pained gurgle, and felt a hot spray of blood hit my arm.

I finally opened my eyes to see that the monster was still alive, and bleeding heavily from a gash I'd made in its chest. I barely had time to feel faint at the sight of so much blood before the thing pounced. I let out a startled cry and held my sword out in front of me. The beast knocked me to the ground, lodging the sword into its own chest in the process. Its large hands slapped at my face for several moments until it gradually lost strength and I was able to shove it off of me. Once it was on the ground, I went into a panicked frenzy and started stabbing the thing, refusing to stop even after it lay in a pool of blood and was clearly very much dead.

"Hey." I felt Alvin's hand on my shoulder. "It's dead–"

"_No!" _I jerked away at the contact, falling back onto my butt. I was broken out of my trance, and now fully aware of the fact I sat in a pool of monster blood. Alvin had slain the others. With the danger gone, my fight-or-flight response (which had clearly chosen fight) faded, and I allowed my self to let out a terrified sob. I clapped a hand to my mouth to muffle it. "Oh my God."

"That...wasn't bad," Alvin said quietly. "You killed it, anyway."

"That was awful," I whimpered. I threw my sword to the side. I didn't even want to look at it. "I've...I've never killed anything before. I mean, I've killed spiders, but that's not...I mean that can't even _compare _to–" I cut off, feeling overwhelmed by my own words.

"You've...never seen a monster before, have you?"

I shook my head. Of course I hadn't.

He sighed and held his hand out to me. "C'mon. You did good, kid."

I laughed at that, bitterly and without humour. Still, I grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet. My dress, once pale blue and pristine, was now covered in blood splatters that would no doubt fade to stains. The same went for my white tights.

"I mean it," Alvin insisted. He bent over to pick up my sword. "It wasn't the most elegant fight, but you got the job done. You didn't run away."

"I don't even want to look at thing," I said, in regards to my sword. Alvin ignored me and slipped it back into the sheath attached to my hip.

"It'll get easier." He took a knife from his belt and knelt down in front of one of the fallen monsters. He then grabbed a fistful of fur and started expertly cutting it away from the body.

"What are you doing?" I asked, feeling uneasy.

"Merchants will pay good money for materials like this," he explained. After getting what he wanted out of that one, he moved on to the next. "They count on people selling them raw materials for trading opportunities. In return, the people who give them the materials – in this case, us – will usually get rewarded with gald and sometimes discounts on merchandise."

I nodded my head, showing I understood, but couldn't say anything. It was safe to say I'd been in a state of denial all this time. Being in a city, I'd been able to tell myself things were normal. Maybe, deep down, I'd secretly believed I was still on Earth – that this was all going to be easily solved.

I stared down at the blood on my fingers. This was not Earth. This was a world where swords were as common an accessory as handbags, and monster parts were traded around like some sort of coupons.

This was Rieze Maxia, and even though I'd escaped Elias, I was not out of danger. Not by a long shot.

* * *

It took a couple more hours of walking before Alvin could get me to speak again – not that it stopped him any. He gabbed on and on about anything he could think of, and while I knew he was trying to help in his own, weird way, it was almost making things worse.

Anyway, my point is, when I finally _did _speak, it was to complain.

"My legs are gonna fall off."

"You really are a city girl," Alvin said in disbelief. "I can't believe how out of shape you are."

I immediately got defensive. "Okay, sorry I'm not used to walking to a whole other city Mr. 'Completely Awesome and Perfect Mercenary'."

"I forgive you."

I let out a _very _irritated groan. Okay, I'll admit – I _sucked _at being healthy. My idea of exercise was the 30 minutes it took to walk to and from work everyday – which often did _not _happen in the harsh Canadian winters I was used to. So, yeah. Walking for an _entire freaking day?! _Nope. It was all I could do not to cry from the burn in my leg muscles. Plus my face was really starting to hurt from getting smacked around by that monster from earlier. I probably had a black eye.

We'd encountered several more monster battles after the first – things like giant scorpions with hugely oversized stingers, and things almost reminiscent of wolves. We fought them all off without much incident – or rather, Alvin did. None of them came in terribly large groups, and Alvin managed to kill every single one of them. He insisted he didn't mind, and that he was fine to keep going, but the sun had barely set and I could tell he was beginning to tire out.

"We should stop to rest," I said finally, slowing my steps.

Alvin stopped, giving me a surprised look. "Are you kidding? The night's barely started! We have a few more hours to go if we wanna manage to catch up to Jude and Milla."

"You're exhausted, Alvin. You've done all of the fighting all day and it isn't fair..." I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. "I'm sorry."

"Hey now, I'm a mercenary, remember?" As if to reinforce his point, he tapped his sword. "Fighting is my job. Besides, there will be a lot less monsters on the road now that night has fallen. It's the perfect time to keep going." His tone was as enthusiastic as ever, but I could see in his eyes that he really was tired. Regardless, he didn't plan on giving up. He was pretty stubborn that way.

"Then I'm going to fight now," I said firmly, and for the first time since that afternoon, I fully gripped the handle of my blade. It caused my stomach to twist, but I didn't let go.

"You really don't have to," he said with a heavy sigh.

"I'm gonna." I shrugged. Maybe acting like it didn't bother me would translate into my _actual _feelings on the matter and I'd grow some nerve. After all, I knew now that I was, at the very least, able of killing a monster when my life depended on it. My fear of dying provided me with the brief burst of adrenaline I needed to get the job done. I'd deal with the horrible repercussions afterwards.

"If you insist. Just don't push yourself – you're still an amateur."

"I take offense to that." I offered him a wry smile – it was the best I could do, but it seemed to do the trick. The two of us continued walking, and this time, I did my best to contribute to conversation.

"Do you think Milla and Jude will stop for the night?" I wondered aloud.

"Hard to say," said Alvin. "Milla strikes me as the type who wouldn't want to waste the time, but she's also still getting used to 'living without the Four'."

"Plus I doubt Jude could keep up with her," I added with a laugh.

"That too."

We walked for most of the night, stopping only for a brief break to refuel our energy with food. I could feel myself getting seriously drowsy, but at the same time, I knew there was no way I'd be able to sleep out in the open with the fear of getting mauled in my sleep hanging over my head. So, I used that as motivation to keep myself awake and kept on trucking.

As the sun began to slowly creep into the sky, the tall rock walls gradually gave way to roiling plains and fields filled with crops. The amber light of dawn was made even more breathtaking by the naturally rosy sky, and so it felt as though the world was slowly bursting to life with colour around us. The path had begun to slope upwards, and as I paused to catch my breath, I quickly lost it as I took in the view we'd left behind – seemingly endless plains bathed in pink light.

For that brief moment, I forgot my worries.

"In a few hours, we'll reach Hamil," said Alvin, breaking me out of my reverie. "Since we haven't found Milla and Jude yet, I'm guessing they're gonna crash there for the night." As an afterthought, he added, "If they haven't already made it there. I'm not gonna lie – we haven't really been hustling."

I blushed, feeling guilty again. I know he hadn't meant it that way, but I knew it was my fault we'd been moving so slow. Even now, I felt like I was going to collapse at any minute. The thought of walking for another few hours had me screaming on the inside.

However, the thought of a nice bed to crawl into pulled me forward, and I found the strength to move my feet.

"What is...Hamil like?" I asked Alvin. My voice was low and scratchy, and I had to force words out between heavy breaths.

Alvin shrugged in response. "I've never really been there. As far as I know it's just some tiny little backwater farming town."

I frowned. "Should we really be...headed there if we have...the Rashugal army following right behind us?"

"They're coming regardless. Better we get there soon and warn Milla and Jude so we can get the hell outta there."

He made a good point, but I was still worried. I hated the thought of some tiny, innocent town getting screwed over because of us. I hoped we'd be able to get to Hamil, find Milla and Jude, and, as Alvin had so eloquently put it, "get the hell outta there" before we caused the people there too much trouble.

As close as we were to the town, the monsters were far and few between. I'd had one particularly close encounter with a wolf, where it had almost had the opportunity to sink its fangs into my arm. I'd managed to drive my sword through its chest before it'd gotten the chance to. The shock from actually killing something was still huge, and I still had to turn my head as Alvin pried some of its fangs from its bleeding mouth, but there was no meltdown afterwards. I was able to tell myself that it was a matter of life or death – I could shut down completely and let myself be torn apart, or I could fight for my life. Live. The choice became simple, and I was able to use that as motivation, as long as I didn't allow myself to think about it afterwards.

Eventually, the hills became dotted with actual farmhouses, with heart-wrenchingly familiar sights like cows and horses. The buildings were built with grey, stone bricks, with wooden framing and long, red shingles on the roofs. The roofing gave me a very eastern feel, and that made me happy – it was something I could place. Something familiar. It wasn't exactly like home, but it also wasn't giant tree-houses built on a lake under an eternal night.

Wooden fences began lining the trail beside us as it dropped down steeply into the lands below. Houses dotted the different levels and cliffs, with ladders leading to upper levels. We'd finally reached what I expected was the main of the town, and my heart swelled with joy. Civilization at last!

"Look at all of those trees," I breathed in amazement, gazing around at the multitude of fruit trees that dotted the area. All of them were filled with delicious-looking poranges and napples (the fruit here was so weird – they had regular apples and oranges, but then also these weird other ones? I didn't pretend to understand it, but they were good regardless).

Alvin stopped and sniffed the air. "I'm catching a whiff of cider. They must have orchards here."

"I wonder if Jude and Milla are here." I took another look around. There were a fair amount of people around – sitting on porches, strolling down the path, standing around chatting. An elderly women took note of our arrival and approached us. She had snow-white hair that was braided and pulled back into a ponytail, save for one small streak of orange. Her smile was worn and kind, and she wore a baggy red tunic with thick fur around the shoulders.

"My, what are the odds?" she said warmly. "It isn't everyday we get visitors, and yet the two of you are the second pair to arrive!"

I perked up at this. "There's another pair here? Is it Jude and Milla?"

She looked a bit puzzled. "Why...yes, I believe those were the names I heard. Do they happen to be friends of yours?"

"Something like that," said Alvin. He flashed her his signature charming smile. "You don't happen to know where they are, do you?"

"I've allowed them to stay the night in my home," she replied, and gestured at the large, two-story house a little way down the path. "I'm the mayor of this town. Would you like me to bring you to see them?"

"That would be awesome," I said enthusiastically. I felt all of the tension drain from my body in that moment. We were in town, we were safe (for the time-being, anyway), and about to be reunited with Milla and Jude. It hadn't even been a day since our stressful farewells – ones that I thought were going to be final. I'll admit, I was excited to see them again, even if it was only to bring them bad news.

The mayor paused, her eyes widening in horror at the bloody mess that was my dress. "My, what in the world...?"

"M-Monster fighting..." I said quietly. I'd almost forgotten about it, but her reaction was enough to remind me that yes – I'd fallen into a puddle of monster blood. I'd had to kill things. I was a mess.

"Oh, dear," her expression then changed to a sympathetic one. "Your poor dress is ruined. I may have some spare clothes you can have back at the house. We'll have to give you something for that eye, too."

"I would really appreciate that." I gave her a grateful smile, discreetly reaching up to touch my face. _Ouch. _Yep, that was definitely a black eye. I was dreading looking in the mirror later.

The mayor's house was beautiful, even from the outside. It was built partially on a hill, so we were forced to climb a tall, turning set of steps to reach the large wrap-around porch. Once inside, I was immediately warmed by the coziness of it. Light filtered in through the frosted, patterned windows, and additional light was provided by lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The walls and shelves were filled with paintings, plates, and knickknacks, and a good old-fashioned wood-stove was burning up against one wall.

Probably the best sight of all, however, was that of Milla and Jude sitting at the large dining table in the middle of the room.

Jude's eyes widened in confusion when he saw Alvin and I standing in the doorway. "A-Alvin? Maggie?!"

I laughed awkwardly, giving him a small wave. "Uh, hey Jude. Long time no see!"

"Hm?" Milla turned in her chair to look at us, and her expression was as close to confused as she could come as well. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh, you know – just dropping in," Alvin said casually. He discreetly nodded his head in the direction of the mayor, and his point was clear – this wasn't something he wanted to discuss in front of her. "We knew you guys were in the neighbourhood so we thought we'd come visit."

It was a wonder the mayor didn't notice the heavy tension in the room – there was enough of it pouring out of Milla alone. _I _noticed it anyway, and it was making me super uncomfortable until Jude finally spoke up and said:

"H-Hey, how about we go for a walk?"

"Not so fast!" the mayor said suddenly, and it was with the tone of a stern grandmother. She clamped a hand on my shoulder. "You are not going anywhere without a bath and a change of clothes – you look exhausted, young lady."

She _did _have a point, but all I could think about was a long line of soldiers marching their way through town and mowing down anyone in their way. We really had to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Good idea!" Alvin cut in, clapping a hard hand on my back. When I tried to speak out in protest, he raised his voice to talk over me. "I'll take a walk with these guys and fill them in on our plans."

"_Alvin–"_

_ "_You're a mess," he said firmly. "You'll scare the townspeople."

I felt like hitting him, and I might have if the mayor had not been standing right there. Regardless, I allowed her to lead me up the stairs while Jude, Milla and Alvin headed out the front door, Alvin giving me an infuriating wink as they did.

* * *

About an hour later, I had myself scrubbed clean (after almost falling asleep in the tub) and in a fresh set of clothes. My old dress was a lost cause. I'd allowed the mayor (Edith, as I'd discovered her name was) to get rid of it, and I was now dressed in a slightly oversized green tunic, with fur around the collar and sleeves – much like the mayor's. I had to admit, it was _super _comfortable. Plus, it was nice to have something a little warmer to wear – I'd noticed that the further north we'd got, the colder it became.

I also cautioned a look in the small mirror sitting on the bathroom dresser. It was hard to tell in the dim lantern light, but my face did _not _look good. A nice splatter of deep purple colour was spread across my eyelid and beneath my right eye, blooming especially nicely on my cheekbone, where the skin was raw and red, just short of bleeding. Other than that, I also had a cut on my lip, and a series of red welts on the left side of my face. Those freakishly big hands had really done a number on me.

Anyway, I threw the tunic on over a fresh pair of brown tights and my boots and headed downstairs. The others still hadn't returned yet, so I walked outside to see if I could find them. I paused on the porch of the house to take in the view – vibrant green fields stretching into the distance, practically farther than I could even see.

The villagers were pretty friendly. Most of them waved or nodded their heads in greeting as I walked passed. Hamil wasn't very big, and Edith had said they didn't get very many visitors here, so seeing a fresh face was probably exciting for them. It was a welcome change from Fennmont, a big city where everyone was so caught up in their own business that they rarely stopped to notice their surroundings – kind of like big cities back home.

I finally caught up to the others in what was the coolest orchard I'd ever seen in my life – the trees stretched up into the sky, so tall I had to crane my neck to see the tops of them. Wooden walkways had been constructed around the top, going from tree to tree so that people could easily reach the fruit on the branches. Milla, Alvin and Jude sat at one of the picnic tables arranged in a small cluster halfway across the clearing.

"You look better," Milla noted as I approached.

I awkwardly climbed into the seat next to Jude. "I feel better. Or at least cleaner, anyway."

"Alvin told us what happened," Jude said in a low voice. He glanced around nervously before continuing. "We're going to take the rest of the day to rest and then leave Hamil once night hits."

"Shouldn't we leave _now?"_ I fought to keep myself from sounding too exasperated. "They were just getting into the seahaven when we left – they can't be too far behind us."

"I know I said we were moving slow, but there was also only two of us," Alvin explained. "Large groups cover less distance. It's a fact. The world's not gonna end if you and I take the rest of the day to rest. We're gonna need sleep if we plan on making it to Nia Khera in one piece."

I raised an eyebrow. "We're going to Nia Khera now?"

"It only makes sense," said Milla. "I still haven't paid Alvin for his services, and the army is after you, as well. We should lose them after entering the Kijara Seafalls. After that, it will be safe for you to head back the way you came."

_More travelling, _I thought bitterly. _Sweet. __Probably more fighting, too__._

"You and Alvin should head back to the mayor's house and get some rest," said Jude. "By the sound of things, the two of you had a rough journey." At this, there was no missing the hint of sympathy in his voice, especially when he offered a quick glance at my eye. Great, so I'd only been gone an hour and Alvin had already managed to spill the beans about my little meltdown? I made no secret of shooting him a dirty look.

"The kid's right," was his unapologetic response. He got up from the table and came around to ruffle my hair. "Girls your age need their beauty sleep."

"I'm actually going to kill you," I muttered under my breath, angrily swatting his hand away. I shoved him away and got up from the table. My legs shook just holding up my own weight – all that walking had made my calves freaking _hurt. _Going to sleep probably wasn't going to make it much better.

"We'll come wake you up when we're ready to leave," said Jude.

"Aren't you guys going to get some sleep too?" I asked.

"We slept for most of the morning," he explained. "Once we get some distance from the town, we'll find a place to hide out and camp for the night."

That was enough to give me some relief. So we wouldn't be going right back into walking for _that _long. I would only have to worry about my legs falling off for a few hours, as opposed to a night and a day. I could deal with that. I could.

So, Alvin and I returned to Edith's house. She had a spare room with two beds, both of which with blankets that were slightly wrinkled and out of place. Jude and Milla must have slept in them this morning.

I let out a contented sigh as I flopped face first onto the bed. The pillows were extremely fluffy – probably stuffed with the Rieze Maxian equivalent of down or something. Every inch of my body seemed to cheer in celebration of finally being able to rest my weary bones.

"This is going to be the best sleep of my life," I murmured. "Even if it's only going to be a few hours."

"You need a cuddle buddy?" Alvin called from the other bed.

The last thing I remember doing before plunging into the depths of sleep was flipping him off and hearing him laugh in response. It was the fastest I'd ever fallen asleep in my life.

* * *

**We're finally getting somewhere!**

**As far as I remember, the mayor never gets a name. Now she has one!**

**I was given a very interesting idea for Maggie's weapon situation by AllSpark Princess, so I just wanted to give a shout out and another thank you for that! I'll be incorporating it sometime soon...stay tuned... :o**

**Anyway, I'll try my hardest to get the next update out faster, but with October being the month of midterms, I make no promises! Happy Halloween if we don't cross paths until then! :)**


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